The recent unrest at the University of Missouri, as well as universities across the country, has shed light on a number of issues beyond the long history of systemic racism in educational institutions.
Many of these issues have actually come from the movement of people countering the concerned cries of students of color.
With the arguments of “freedom of speech” and “breeding hypersensitivity on campuses” comes a lot of misunderstanding.
The claim that these protests limit the freedom of speech called for in the First Amendment unwisely glosses over the need for people to fight for the right to feel safe and respected.
This type of argument only creates a cycle of inaction.
Sure, you have every right to hold and express racist or offensive views. Go for it.
But the people those views target also have the right to free speech, to freedom of the press and the right to assemble. They have the right to stand up for themselves and for their concerns to be heard.
Though, arguably, what use is the right to free speech if you don’t even feel physically safe in your environment? If you feel you cannot even leave your home to walk to class, like students at Mizzou, your First Amendment rights are not a top priority.
Additionally, freedom of speech only goes so far.
One only has the right to say what they want if it does not present a “clear and present danger” or would provoke an “imminent lawless action” as specified in the landmark Supreme Court cases Schenck v. United States and Brandenburg v. Ohio, respectively.
The minute you say something obviously indicative of a threatening situation, that right goes out the window.
An anonymous post on IU’s Yik Yak on Nov. 13 that said, “If you’re not white don’t come to class today” presents both a clear and present danger and suggests an imminent lawless action.
And it’s clear a post like that here in Bloomington also suggests a dismissal of the seriousness of the racial injustice problems on college campuses.
Those who say these students afflicted with constant instances of inequality and aggression on the basis of their race are “just getting offended too easily” do not grasp the breadth of the situation.
Those who are annoyed or disturbed by the protests, the marches and the demonstrations are also missing the point.
The population of students who feel unsafe at places like Mizzou is the same population of students whose voices have been stifled for so long that they feel like they must yell just to be heard.
To oppose the so-called hypersensitivity at schools is to oppose the mentality that you should stand up for yourself if you feel wronged. It is to oppose the message that you should have enough confidence in yourself as a person to remark that you’ve been offended.
To oppose action is to endorse passivity.
And for students of color fighting for their justice and their safety, passivity is just not an option.
