Week 7-George Welly

George Welly 

AO1 

Week 7

Within, Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the way for campus activism, Cohen visits the Free Speech movement at UC Berkeley during the time of the 1960s. Being politically active on campus was seen as a defiance of some sort as students felt strongly about their political beliefs—particularly regarding segregation and racial discrimination. Campus administrators found it fit to shut down any form of political activism going on campus, however students were ready to fight. More and more students joined in to use their voice on what they believed in and these pioneering students paved the road for what we enjoy as the right of free speech and political activism on campus. This freedom would not have been possible for students today had the UC Berkeley students gave up. While having the academic freedom of speech is something we enjoy today, we must remember the threats the accompany this freedom. Ultimately, we have nothing to fear for the future lest we forget our past as student activists. 

In relation to, Servitors of Empire: Studies in the Dark Side of Asian America, Hamamoto correlates the events of 9/11 to the events of the war in Iraq. Within the events of 9/11, a man by the name of Norman Mineta was utilized by the government to essentially assure people that racial profiling is not occurring within the United States. Hamamoto also reminds us that the introduction of a non-white president such as Barak Obama allowed the United States to be safe on the surface, but rather the situation is the total opposite. This sort of ethnic cover is completely unacceptable and diverts attention from the real issue at hand that racial profiling is an issue happening. Finally, race itself should not be used to justify anything, which is evident through Barack Obama’s presidency. Race itself has not connection to someone’s actions, therefore the phenomenon is more nurture rather than nature. 

Finally, within,The Coddling of the American Mind, Haidt and Lukainoff explore the ideas of political correctness in which there are instances where are important, however there are times where there are faults. In terms of censorship, knowledge is important, however being politically correct will actually prevent us from learning. Quintessentially, there is a time and place for everything and while being politically correct may be helpful, there will be times where the extreme is taken too far and perhaps this ties back into the argument of freedom of speech.

Q. Where can we draw the line of freedom of speech and offensive hate speech? Should hate speech be included within the right of freedom of speech?

References:

1. Cohen, Robby. (1985). Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the Way for Campus Activism. OAH Magazine of History, 1(1), 16-18.

2. Hamamoto, D. (n.d.). Ethnic Cover: Inquiry Into Norman Yoshio Mineta and Post-Racial Profiling. In Servitors of Empire: Studies in the Dark Side of Asian America (pp. 201-223). Waterville , OR: Trine Day LLC.

3. Haidt, G. L., & Haidt, J. (2015, November 20). The Coddling of the American Mind. Retrieved May 14, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/

4. Gonzales, R. (2014, October 05). Berkeley's Fight For Free Speech Fired Up Student Protest Movement. Retrieved May 14, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/2014/10/05/353849567/when-political-speech-was-banned-at-berkeley