Summary: Every month brings new stories of America’s liberties eroding away, and our passive acceptance. This Halloween brings an especially pitiful example. To understand how far we have fallen, compare the behavior of college students today to that during a famous incident fifty years ago. Sad, but we can change. We will be what we choose to be.
“Guilt only dreads Liberty of Speech, which drags it out of its lurking Holes, and exposes its Deformity and Horror to Day-light.”
— “Of Freedom of Speech, That the Same is inseparable from Publick Liberty“, one of Cato’s Letters by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, 4 February 1720.
“We were Americans once…”
The first Boomers turn 70 this year; the last turn 52. What have the Boomers become? What have they done to America? What kind of children have they raised? First look at today’s news, then at what the Boomers were in the first stirrings of their strength.
A letter from leaders of Tufts Multicultural Greek Council, Panhellenic Council, Inter-Fraternity Council, and Inter-Greek Council warns fraternities about the penalties of wearing politically incorrect Halloween costumes. It was publicized in a post by Jake Goldberg of Students Advocating for Students. The letter quotes the Dean of Student Affairs, Mary Pat McMahon, threatening students (bold emphasis in original).
“The range of response for students whose actions make others in our community feel threatened or unsafe, or who direct conduct towards others that is offensive or discriminatory, includes OEO {Office of Equal Opportunity} and/or TUPD investigation and then disciplinary sanctions from our office that could run a wide gamut depending on what is brought to our attention and the impact of these actions on others. Any complaints will result in full investigation by University officials and could result in serious disciplinary sanctions through Judicial Affairs.”
Jake Goldberg of SAS points out the absurdity and illegality of this oppressive action.
“Given that the standard of guilt for a violation of this policy relies on an entirely subjective evaluation — was the complainant offended? — there is no way for students responding to accusations of such a violation to prove their innocence.
“This problem is even further exacerbated due to the fact that the policy itself outwardly states that whether or not a student intentionally means to offend others is meaningless. A student who wears an outfit that offends somebody, yet had zero intention to do so, is just as much in violation of this policy as a student who purposefully seeks to insult others with their costume; both students stand no chance of avoiding disciplinary sanctions.
“Wearing a costume that others do not like is not a crime in a free country, especially not on a college campus ‘where freedom of expression is cherished,’ as Tufts University President Monaco has previously stated.”
This and similar outrages at other schools probably will be met with apathetic compliance. But we were not always peons. Look to our past for inspiration, when we were a vibrant and untamed people.. For example, to the Berkeley Free Speech Movement…
The Boomers were wild and untamed once…
Fifty years ago the University of California prohibited students from distributing flyers about the powerful issues of the day. In 1964 that was civil rights. NPR describes the birth of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement (FSM; see its chronology).
“‘It was the passion that fueled the Free Speech Movement‘ said Lynn Hollander Savio, who was a senior at Berkeley in October of 1964. Hollander Savio says that many students had spent the summer on voter registration drives in the South. Back at Berkeley, they set up information tables to tell other students about civil rights. When the school administration tried to shut them down, the students were incredulous.
… She recalls that day when a former math grad student, Jack Weinberg, was arrested for distributing civil rights literature. He was thrown into a patrol car while thousands of curious students watched. ‘Somebody shouted “sit down” and students who were there to watch this happening sat down, and that police car didn’t go anywhere for 32 hours,’ Hollander Savio says.
As the students spontaneously chanted ‘let him go,’ the Free Speech Movement was ignited. Its leader was a mild-mannered but fiery orator named Mario Savio, who would become Lynn Hollander’s husband. In December of 1964, weeks after the initial confrontation, Savio spoke just before a massive sit-in that led to the arrest of 800 students.
“A reporter described what followed as a ‘gauntlet,’ as students were pushed down the stairs, beat and kicked. The confrontation proved too much for the university, and the university faculty voted to end all restrictions on political activity. The student movement — ranging from Young Socialists to Young Republicans — was victorious.”
A follow-up incident revealed much about the temper of the times. On 4 March 1965 Art Goldberg (one of FSM’s leaders) were arrested for shouting “F**K” in public. Collections were taken at a table for the “F**k Defense Fund”; two students at the table were arrested. A protestor was arrested while publicly reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Hammered by criticism from students (too repressive) and some Regents (too lenient), UC President Kerr resigned on March 10. It was not accepted, although the resignation of Berkeley Chancellor Edward W. Strong was accepted.
Conclusions
We are not what we once were. We’re not the Founders, or the Americans who fought to end slavery. We’re not the Greatest Generation who defeated fascism and communism, then overturned the post-Civil War legal oppression of African-Americans. We are not even what we were in the days of the Boomers’ youth.
To see the magnitude of this change since 1964, imagine how Berkeley’s students of 1964 would react to regulation of their Halloween costumes. They would see the Orwellian nature of this intrusion of the Administration’s heavy hand — backed by police — into their personal lives. They might respond with mass disobedience, an orgy of incorrect costumes. They might riot.
Today we respond as sheeple. It is just one small example of the growing and tightening web of controls on American’s speech. Our passive response to the stripping away of our liberties supports Martin van Creveld’s belief that we have become pussycats. But we have the ability to recover our strength and again become Americans, not peons. It’s all about choice. We will be what we choose to be. (See more discussion in the comments.)
More evidence that Americans have become pussycats
“No clowns allowed” — US Schools and parades are banning clown costumes after hysteria over ‘killer clowns’. Cosmopolitan excitedly reports that a 29 year old student was traumatized by seeing an Ivanka Trump label on clothes. It’s not the incidents themselves that are significant. In a large nation oddities always abound. That these are reported seriously, rather than as fun or ludicrous incidents, that’s significant.
For More Information
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about freedom of speech, about protests , and especially these…
- How to stage effective protests in the 21st century.
- How do protests like the TP and OWS differ from effective political action?
- Why don’t political protests work? What are the larger lessons from our repeated failures?
- Thoreau reminds us about one of the few tools we have to control the government — About civil disobedience.
