| Response:
The American Nazi party over 20 years
ago won the right to march in Skokie, Illinois, a town well known for
its large number of Jewish residents and concentration camp survivors.
The ACLU’s stand for free speech was nowhere more uncompromising than in
their support of the Nazi Party’s First Amendment rights, to the outrage
of many. I agree with the principle that you may say what you wish, even
if I don’t like it or agree or if I am not even exactly sure what you
mean by it. (There are, of course, exceptions such as the classic
example that you may not shout “fire” in a crowded theater if there is
not one.) When I was in high school,
three Unitarian students in the Des Moines public schools won a Supreme
Court case affirming their right to wear black armbands to protest
government policy in Vietnam. (Vietnam War protestors in 1965 Iowa were
considered traitors.) The Court found the wearing of armbands to be
“symbolic acts” included within the meaning of free speech and thus
protected by the First Amendment. The case firmly established that
students do not “shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse
gate.” Concerning the risk of disturbance, Justice Fortas pointed out
that “apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to
freedom of expression.” When the actions of those expressing their views
do not impinge upon the rights of others and are not in themselves
disruptive, the possibility that others may respond by causing
disruption should not be used as a reason to ban free speech.
| | I attended
commencement at UCSD this month, and I was amazed by the variety of
apparel worn under and on the gowns, not to mention the decorations,
signs and messages written on caps and stoles. The provost was handed a
paper by each student with his or her name written on it, and then
dutifully announced, “Jane I love you Mom and Dad Smith,” “Jim
Magnificent Bastard Brown” and several controversial political
statements in lieu of middle names.
The universities should continue to offer courses, public forums and
every educational opportunity to help students to develop the values and
skills needed to live together in a diverse community. Preventing
freedom of speech is not the solution. Students are the hope of the
future, but school is a microcosm of the global community. We should not
be surprised that these serious problems have not yet been solved at UCI
any more than at other places around the world.
- Rev. Dr. Deborah Barrett |