GEN Y'S RELATIONSHIP WITH FREE SPEECH

By Rowan


CONTROVERSIAL AD

Recently a lot of attention has been focused on my generation's outlook on free speech, due to an event at numerous colleges across America. David Horowitz, an outspoken political figure on the moderate right, put out an ad in numerous college newspapers across the country. The ad argued against reparations for slavery, and many, possibly most, Americans agree with him. The American world of higher education is a different story, however, and of the 52 college publications he sent it to, only a very few printed it. On at least two of those campuses on which it was printed, there were not only protests, but many of the newspapers were stolen and thrown away by students.

REACTIONS AND ARGUMENTS

This incident has sparked a lot of anger and argument from various sides of the equation. Interestingly, the left-wing students were accused of bigotry by many in the media who are themselves on the left. The ad itself isn't racist in any very overt way, though many would disagree with me on that. The most controversial thing the ad says is that reparations have already been payed through welfare and other social spending programs, but many say that it's still within the bounds of civil dialogue. Some of the college papers that published it later printed formal apologies for running the ad.

STUDENT ATTITUDES

While much focus has been put on the editors and other staff of the college papers in question, I think that it's a definate issue of young people in general. In many ways, we've grown up with more free speech than any preceding generation, and one might assume we'd be great champions of that cause. Another event that has recently upset people was the protest in Berkeley which kept Benjamin Netanyahu from speaking there. Accusing him of war crimes, protesters in the hundreds held signs and blocked the entrance to where he was scheduled to speak. Netanyahu decided not to speak in Berkeley because of the danger he perceived. While many age groups participated, students at Berkeley's university were very likely the heart and soul of the demonstration.

MY TWO CENTS

I myself would tend to say that both Netanyahu and Horowitz have been wrongly censored, but I acknowledge that it's a complex issue. As far as Gen Y in general, it's not altogether clear to me what we think about free speech. It's something I'm sure most would point to as a reason to live in America, though, and there is at least a lot of respect for it among certain members of our generation. It's hard to know what free speech means to young people in America, partly because there is a lot of artificial freedom in our culture. There are whole countercultures full of thousands of people who all conform to the same image and label it spontaneous, free, or alternative. Is one still rebellious if everyone else in their school or neighborhood is doing the exact same thing?