I've written before about the pervasiveness of catch phrases in American politics. I write now to address the one of the most appalling pieces of rhetoric bouncing around this campus: free speech. This phrase has become another painful catch-all that, like fingernails on a chalkboard, is being used for the wrong purpose.
"Free speech" is all you hear now when you protest an objectionable act -- "Free speech," over and over, the tired defense of the offensive. But freedom of speech is not an issue here. Is this the clever twisting of manipulators of rhetoric, or an ignorant mistake? Either way, it has taken hold, and it needs to be cleared up.
Free speech is something we all recognize as a right. Calling this an issue of free speech implies that those of us who object to certain speech wish to end the right to offend people. This is not only far from the truth, it is also a low blow. Even if Dartmouth's students or Administration wished to limit free speech, it would be in vain. There's no real threat to free speech here. Every member of this community has the right to choose whether or not to say offensive things. We only hope to influence the decision by taking away privileges.
How many are the privileges we take for granted? Our presence here, participation in organizations such as the Greek system and ability to throw College-sanctioned parties: these are fairly obvious, and within the power of the Administration to take away from those who do not uphold the standards of the College. But there are other meaningful, less obvious privileges we tend to enjoy, like tacit acceptance. Free speech is a right, but maintaining the approval of a community is something you must earn. It's something we can take away without impinging on free speech. We can let offenders know through our words and actions that incidents of misogyny, racism, and homophobia will not be tolerated.
When the Administration steps in and revokes outward privileges enjoyed by organizations, it is not interfering with free speech; rather, it is merely discouraging speech that violates the values we as a community hold. But the Administration can only do so much. Those privileges it can revoke only affect particular organizations. We as students can do more. We have the ability -- as many of us are doing -- to let perpetrators know that we condemn their actions. And we also are beginning to take responsibility as a campus for what has been done. We will not accept hateful, harmful acts any longer.
The single most difficult struggle a democracy has to face is to allow dissent when it violates its most cherished beliefs. But we do not stop dissent by opposing it. We have done, and will continue to do, no more than take our stand. Those who have criticized us for threatening free speech lack anything to fight for but dissent itself. They oppose the principles of mutual respect in a community because they have no argument other than screaming "free speech!" Well, this is the first time the voices of sexism, racism and homophobia have been apart from the majority. Be proud, Dartmouth: we have taken away from them anything to fight for but the right to fight. And this we can allow. We must allow it, but we must not condone what it stands for.
Now there's a word that's also been misused as of late. "Condone" can mean to encourage, and it has been used this way by the members of Zeta Psi fraternity who claim not to have condoned "The Zetemouth" papers. But "condone" also includes tacit acceptance. By not speaking up against an action that you are aware of, you condone it. Now I do not mean to attack Zeta Psi. Many other members of the Dartmouth community knew about this and many other offensive acts without publicly disapproving of them. We as a campus must bear the burden of these errors. We must stand together and take the responsibility of responding to offensive acts. We can not afford to condone them any longer.
It's time now to stop immaturely hiding behind "free speech." We as a campus can do better. We as a community are standing up to say what we will not accept on this campus. We are taking it upon ourselves as the individual responsibility of each of us to speak out against offensive acts, rather than letting them slip. No one wants to take away the right to offend, but we will take away the privilege of social acceptance from those who show fundamental disrespect for others. We're not waiting for the Administration to tell us when something violates our values. At long last, we as individuals are taking responsibility for our peers.
Who are "we?" We are hundreds of individual students, some of us active since we got here, some of us just now waking up to what is going on around us. We are what the campus as a whole is becoming. Who here is not ready to stand up and say that offensive speech is a freedom we can choose not to exercise? Greek and unaffiliated, conservatives and liberals alike, we should all take offense when members of our community say harmful things. Can we not express disappointment in certain choices while we respect each other's right to choose? To survive as a democratic society, we must.
