The Orange Grove: Extracurricular lesson in free speech
In my Politics of American Government class last winter, I learned that there are limitations on our right of free speech, limits delineated by terms such as "fighting words," "clear and present danger" and libel. During that same term, I also discovered just how restrictive many college students' idea of free speech really is.
In an editorial for a school newspaper, I criticized how the school's four ethnic theme dorms (African-American, American Indian, Asian and Latino) stereotyped minorities by categorizing individuals by race rather than considering broader personal experiences and values. The response: How dare I condemn the established multicultural institutions on campus! Didn't I know that I had no business commenting on the issue since, as one student stated on a campus forum, I was just a "white, libertarian girl from the O.C." Considering how often students refer to their right of free speech when they criticize the school or presidential administration, their reactions to my article were stunning.
I received so many caustic e-mails and messages the weekend after my article was published that my residential adviser actually asked me to inform him if I received any tangible threats. Luckily, these messages were just irrationally irate, not violent. Students accused me of being a racist and an ignoramus because no one they knew had ever objected to the houses. One black girl asked me to be her "Facebook friend," suggesting I didn't have any minority friends or else I wouldn't have written the article. Most students did not respond to my arguments, opting to personally slander me.
One boy called me a racist and then told me that he was "greatly offended by the white perspective that [I]hold." Many minorities actually belittled me for suggesting that the school should evaluate them on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. I wonder if I had quoted Martin Luther King's speech verbatim if they still would have accused me of having a racist, "white perspective." "
A few students complained that I used the word "black" in lieu of "African-American." But they didn't have a problem with my using "white" instead of "Caucasian."
As I've learned in my humanities classes, the words "black" and "Indian" are taboo in academia. Do these words pose a clear and present danger? Only to the person who utters them. But considering the brouhaha that followed my article, they may well be "fighting words." If you use them around college students, prepare for a fight, or at least a scowl. Though I've heard some African-American students call one another "nigger," white students still can't use the neutral term "black."
I felt gratified when some more "open-minded" students responded to my article by calling for an "open dialogue." A few organized a panel discussion on the issue and invited me as a panelist. I agreed, hoping that the discussion might help illuminate my perspective and diffuse some of the hysteria. I didn't know then how broadly, or rather how narrowly, some college students construe the word "dialogue."
The supposedly independent moderator of the panel was the resident director of the black ethnic theme dorm. The four other panelists were current or former residents of the theme dorms, and the entire audience (aside from one student reporter) were either theme dorm residents or their friends. Evidently, the dialogue had only been publicized in the ethnic theme dorms. I was the only one in the room that opposed the dorms. The moderator targeted me with most of her questions and many times took it upon herself to refute my arguments. Those in the audience also grilled me on how I could be so narrow-minded.
The "dialogue" was a travesty. Although the right to free speech supposedly protects minorities, many of the so-called minorities in the room harangued me for openly stating my beliefs. While they refrained from tarring and feathering me, many once again told me that I had no business speaking on the issue of race because I was white. I wondered why they even invited me if I was not allowed to speak about race, which was the focus of the discussion.
I learned that, while students proclaim their own right of free speech, they tend to extend it only to those whose opinions are politically correct.