By Hunter Gilbert
The opinions expressed by The Maneater columnists do not represent the opinions of The Maneater editorial board.
Hunter Gilbert is a freshman data journalism major at MU. He is an opinion columnist who writes about rights and tech for The Maneater.
The founding fathers did not get everything right when it came to explaining the rights they believed every American should have. For starters, they didnt believe these rights applied to everyone in the nation.
What they were successful in doing was expressing how important specific rights were to their vision of a longstanding democratic republic. This is why the First Amendment includes several tenets, some of those being the freedoms of religion, speech and press. In the event that a sovereign state silences all forms of publication that have conflicting viewpoints with the powers that be, the voice and verbal opposition of a populace in the absence of the press would act as the last vessel for the people. It is essential for democratic processes to occur.
Recently at the University of California-Berkeley, a member of the alt-right, Milo Yiannopoulos, had his event canceled due to a concern for his own safety. This was the result of a protest that turned into a riot one that was not controlled by the police even though their purpose was to maintain order. It goes without saying from my past columns that I do not champion or support rhetoric like Milos. He has done some truly despicable things. I do, however, agree with Milo, much like another opponent of his rhetoric, Matt Teitelbaum, when it comes to freedom of speech.
If you have ever actually watched the man speak, he carries himself with an interesting demeanor. He will have a good dialogue with someone with opposing views if they carry their conversation through well-mannered means. If someone is merely screaming at him and calling him names, he will do the same through vicious mockery and heckling. beliefs. It has been that way for over a hundred years and it will remain that way. There is no changing that. So when it was announced that one of the leaders of the UC Berkeley protest believed the protest was successful and that she tolerated the behavior that occurred, it sends a very concerning message. Plenty of protesters acted respectfully, and they deserve praise for doing so. The fact of the matter is the violence and rioting that occurred gave more attention to Milos cause. Milos book is now an Amazon bestseller thanks to the publicity, and it hasnt even come out yet. In part, the protest failed since its goal was to keep people from hearing him speak. Violence or silencing your opponent discredits your own sides credibility.
If you truly want change, make compromises. Talk to people who have different views than your own. Learn about the origins of why they believe in a certain ideology. Dont surround yourself solely with people who think exactly like you. That only creates a hive mind mentality with an echo chamber effect. It doesnt lead to any progress. Free speech is useless when your opponent cant speak for themselves.
He has two sides, one of which I respect. At times, he has openly welcomed actual dialogue from opposing viewpoints. This is rare these days. Society jumps at labeling people without actually listening to them or mislabels a party or person for the shock value or simple discreditation. Its modern day McCarthyism, but instead with buzzwords like fascist and neo-Nazi, even though sometimes it is warranted. It is the equivalent of crying wolf over and over again. No one will listen to you when the truth is applicable. One does not have to agree with Milos beliefs to recognize he values free speech for what it actually promotes: discussion and dialogue between opposing viewpoints.
Back to the protest. One can easily watch the videos of rioters clubbing people with iron pipes or punching a bystander several times even though it is apparent she had done nothing to warrant this. What shocked me the most was a man, already unconscious, being beaten by a group of anti-fascist demonstrators.
There was no uproar and no mainstream condemnations from bipartisan groups for what occurred. For the most part, the response was silence. I may not agree with the people who were clubbed and beaten, but suppressing their civil right to free speech should not be so widely accepted.
Read this article:
Column: Free speech is a two-way street - The Maneater
- Turkey's crackdown on freedom of speech intensifies - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Bill of Rights Transcript Text - National Archives and ... - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Freedom of Speech (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- 3 Muslims shot dead by Atheist || #muslimlivesmatter - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Media Studies 104A - 2015-02-10 - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- USA Freedom of Speech and Jesus Christ - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- France Arrests French Comedian Dieudonne 3 Days After Charlie Hebdo Freedom of Speech - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Charlie Hebdo's "Freedom of Speech" - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- John Robertson on Greg Shapiro's United States of Europe - S3Ep01 - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- The Illuminati: The Freedom of Speech 2015 Conspiracy - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Muslims oppose insult to Islam in the name of freedom of speech - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- RE: HannibalTheVictor13's resentment over thunderf00t and his "freedom of speech". - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Policy update restricts demonstrations - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Italian senators pass bill criminalizing denial of genocides - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Michael Buerk Interview - Freedom of Speech & Paris Attacks - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- 'Freedom Of Speech' Topic Tuesday #12 - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- One dead after shots fired at Copenhagen freedom of speech meeting - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Shots Fired at Copenhagen Free Speech Event: Reports - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- One man dead and three policemen wounded at freedom of speech seminar in Denmark - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Copenhagen caf: two gunmen in terror attack at freedom of speech event - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- One dead in gun attack on Danish freedom of speech meeting - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Free Speech Debate Still Alive After Attack in Denmark - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Esau uses Freedom of Speech as a weapon! - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Copenhagen attacks an 'affront to freedom of speech': Tony Abbott - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Copenhagen suspect known to police - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Copenhagen police kill suspect linked to two fatal attacks - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press - Lincoln University - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Copenhagen Shooting: Deadly attack at free speech meeting with cartoonist who depicted Muh - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Shots fired at Copenhagens Krudttoenden cafe free speech event a report - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Media Studies 104A - 2015-02-12 - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- WallBuilders Live 2015-02-11 Wednesday - Freedom of Speech on College Campuses - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Yisrael Beytenu at Charlie Hebdo freedom of speech protest - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- TOI debate on freedom of speech wows Kolkata - The Times ... - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Muslims Killing Atheists! - Video - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- AP Top Stories February 14 P - Video - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson to Receive Freedom of Speech Award - February 17th, 2015 [February 17th, 2015]
- Freedom of speech, but... SHOTS - Video - February 17th, 2015 [February 17th, 2015]
- Letters to the editor: We must do more to stop terrorists - February 18th, 2015 [February 18th, 2015]
- Freedom Of Speech Naam Ki Koi Chiz Hoti Hai - Alia Bhatt On AIB Controversy - Video - February 18th, 2015 [February 18th, 2015]
- DoomShow,Freedom of Speech under attack by Terrrorists - Video - February 18th, 2015 [February 18th, 2015]
- Greenpeace activist refutes govt charge of being anti-national - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- Jailed Al Jazeera journalist concerned about freedom of speech - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- Fan claims municipal police violating freedom of speech - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- Jailed journalist concerned about freedom of speech - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- Denmark: Police launch manhunt for Copenhagen cafe shooter - Video - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- Freedom of speech denied outside of Skillet concert Pittsburgh - Video - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- Alex Jones is Right! Snowden is Right! Government Crooks Via FaceBook! - Video - February 21st, 2015 [February 21st, 2015]
- "McCann Trolling" v "Freedom of Speech" - Video - February 21st, 2015 [February 21st, 2015]
- Aamir Khan disapproves AIB Roast, KJo reacts - February 22nd, 2015 [February 22nd, 2015]
- South Africa: Post the State of the Nation Address - February 23rd, 2015 [February 23rd, 2015]
- The Great Purge of Free Speech Has Begun............ - Video - February 23rd, 2015 [February 23rd, 2015]
- Big Brother Watch calls for reform of social media communications laws - February 24th, 2015 [February 24th, 2015]
- Comment on Have an opinion? Stuff it! by boh-liao - February 24th, 2015 [February 24th, 2015]
- Sports Hotline: What happened to freedom of speech - have Rangers fans lost their right to offend? - February 24th, 2015 [February 24th, 2015]
- Freedom of Speech: Canadians support Charlie Hebdos choice to publish images of Prophet Muhammad - February 24th, 2015 [February 24th, 2015]
- Should there be limitations on freedom of speech? - Video - February 24th, 2015 [February 24th, 2015]
- Topic Tuesday #39 - Freedom of Speech? (Minecraft Survival Games Gameplay) - Video - February 24th, 2015 [February 24th, 2015]
- DW Freedom of Speech Award for Raif Badawi - February 25th, 2015 [February 25th, 2015]
- THROWDOWN THURSDAY: The Four Causes of Anti-Israelism - February 26th, 2015 [February 26th, 2015]
- FCC Reinstates Net Neutrality, Protecting Open Internet - February 27th, 2015 [February 27th, 2015]
- CPDP 2015: Online privacy versus freedom of speech. Balancing rights in the EU context. - Video - February 27th, 2015 [February 27th, 2015]
- Net neutrality lobby victorious after FCC ruling - February 27th, 2015 [February 27th, 2015]
- Freedom of speech means tolerating opposing viewpoints - March 2nd, 2015 [March 2nd, 2015]
- The Death of Freedom of Speech on the Internet - Video - March 2nd, 2015 [March 2nd, 2015]
- Dangerman - Freedom Of Speech - Video - March 2nd, 2015 [March 2nd, 2015]
- Rebel Ratepayer Raps 4 Freedom of Speech in City of Melton, Melbourne - Video - March 2nd, 2015 [March 2nd, 2015]
- Students stand up for free speech at UI - March 2nd, 2015 [March 2nd, 2015]
- John Kerry asked to act on murder of Avijit Roy - March 3rd, 2015 [March 3rd, 2015]
- Not so Charlie now? - March 4th, 2015 [March 4th, 2015]
- ISIS Supporters Threaten "Charlie Hedbo style" Attack Against Twitter Employees - March 4th, 2015 [March 4th, 2015]
- AIB trying hard about freedom of speech - Video - March 4th, 2015 [March 4th, 2015]
- Freedom of Speech situation in Bangladesh BBC World Service discussion - Video - March 4th, 2015 [March 4th, 2015]
- Noam Chomsky on Freedom of Speech and Anti-Fascism [full] - Video - March 4th, 2015 [March 4th, 2015]
- AND..Y we should stand up for freedom of speech | AIB Roast | Delhi Elections | AAP - Video - March 4th, 2015 [March 4th, 2015]
- Vclav Havel Fellowship programme helps young journalists from post-Soviet bloc states - March 5th, 2015 [March 5th, 2015]
- Murderers condemned as message of peace is North Herts conferences priority - March 5th, 2015 [March 5th, 2015]
- four freedoms speech - FDR - Video - March 5th, 2015 [March 5th, 2015]
- Watch what the youth feels about the AIB Roast Controversy & so called "freedom of speech" - Video - March 5th, 2015 [March 5th, 2015]
- freedom of speech eminem remix - Video - March 5th, 2015 [March 5th, 2015]
- Freedom of speech has no limits- - Video - March 5th, 2015 [March 5th, 2015]