This past Friday, there was an opportunity for members of the Dartmouth community to come to the steps of Parkhurst to share their voices in an open dialogue about change at Dartmouth College. There was a microphone open for anyone who had something to say and notebooks available for people who wanted to put their views in writing. However, instead of writing about the entire event, I will now dwell on a small minority of the participants.
Towards the end of the afternoon, several members of the community decided to take this opportunity in front of Parkhurst to display posters reading "Scalp 'Em" and "Wah Hoo Wah." Some of the braver members of this group went up to the microphone to explain their actions. Their argument came down to freedom of speech, and they pointed out that they have the right to display their posters or whatever else they want. What they failed to explain was why they had any interest in using free speech in the manner they proposed. I want to comment on that decision now.
I believe in freedom of speech. I am glad that I live in a place where I can display any poster that I can create. I understand the magnitude and the importance of that freedom.
I also believe in respect, kindness and human decency.
These are two separate issues. Yes, you have the right to say these things. But why would you want to say them?
I do not need limits on my speech to prevent me from displaying language that has meaning only in its ability to hurt people that have never done me wrong. There is not an ounce in my body that desires to watch someone I do not know sob in frustration, anger and shame because of words I use that are designed with no other intent than to offend. It is painfully appropriate that "Wah Hoo Wah" has no discernible meaning to us -- it is just offensive and hurtful noise.
We cannot spend our lives watching our every action because it might be offensive to someone. At the same time, it is not enough to say we say these things because we have free speech and we have the right. I sat incredulous as I heard members of the group say these things time and again to a screaming, sobbing woman who poured her heart out in an attempt to explain how much their words hurt her. I could not believe that they had no justification for their words other than to say that we could not stop them from saying whatever they wanted to say. This kind of display would have been hard to watch in any community, but it was even more painful for me because it occurred in my community, in a community I love so dearly, in a community where the ideas of education should be valued above all else.
I do not question the right of those individuals to come to Parkhurst to express what they did, but it makes my heart ache to imagine the complete lack of respect for other human beings that would lead anyone to want to make those posters. Members of this community should not be prevented from displaying such expression through regulation, punishment or violence. Members of this community should be prevented from displaying such expression through a culture that instills enough respect for other human beings that no one has any desire to hurt and offend indiscriminately.
