Colin McDaniel

English 1000
Lesson12

Free Speech vs. Censorship

Anne Coulter, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannapolis: chances are you’ve heard about or seen some of these
people in the news in the past year or so. What they all have in common is a knack for unsettling people
prompting censoring from many media companies as well as banishment from publishers as well as
universities. Anne Coulter was banned from the university of Cal Berkeley for what some would call
radical right-wing views, Alex Jones and his website Infowars was taken off multiple social media
platforms, and Milo Yiannopolis had his book deal cut after backlash from groups of people about its
publication. Many of these actions sparked equal outrage from their supporters who view this as an
infraction on their first amendment rights, while universities and social media sites claim the speech
incites hate. With this new-found culture of protectiveness and exclusion it brings up questions of what
we can actually say, how should we say our words, and the most dreaded thought of all for a public
speaker… offending someone. In no way am I a supporter of or actively follow any of the people I have
just listed but I feel they have as much a say in the world as anyone. Freedom of speech no matter how
radical is more beneficial to society than trying to censor that speech because it opens new doors of
debate and ideas, promotes healthy critical thinking skills, and because censoring is inefficient.

Exposing ourselves to these unwanted or disagreeable ideas is bettering your critical thinking. You see it
all the time at high schools or university someone wants to better their critical thinking they might join a
debate club or expose themselves to different speakers and scholars. Now imagine every time someone
brought up an idea or thought you didn’t like you could just kick them out of the room. Would be nice
right? But that’s not how the real-world works. You can’t just push off ideas and hope they never come
back. That is how college is becoming though and to the detriment of the students. In “The coddling of
the American Mind” Jonathan Haidt and George Lukainoff take a psychological approach to the effects
of this censorship and its impacts on the students as well as providing anecdotes from university
professors expressing their concern with this growing culture. Examples include professors being asked
to leave out certain parts of curriculum that may offend students as well as student equality groups
being shunned for the very things they stand for. Haidt and Lukainoff explain how the duty of university
isn’t to shield their students from opposing views but to embrace them and build healthy problem-
solving skills. The article states that by doing so we are underpreparing students for the real world
where they will face opposition and uncomfortable situations.

Humans gain knowledge from the exchange of ideas. Its important to understand that hateful, useless,
or just plain incorrect ideas are still important to learn from. We often talk about the “what not to do”
scenario to show someone the right way to do something. Why is it that when someone speaks about
something, we don’t agree with we try and shut it up instead of disprove it? We harass people for
outlandish beliefs now without paying them any mind as if throughout our history people weren’t
persecuted for their changing beliefs that turned out to be right, as in the case of Galileo. Radical and
sensitive topics are the ones that need to be heard, not shut up. What should follow these speeches
isn’t violent protest but debate of the ideas leading to new ways of thinking and hopefully ones that we
feel better suit our society. You can’t have a free exchange of ideas for only the ones we feel fit, its
detrimental to not only these minority groups who want a voice but to our education as a society. “The
Colin McDaniel
English 1000
Lesson12

(third) reason that free speech is fundamental to society is that it is inseparable from the mission of
higher education”(Pinker).

So how are these colleges and networks able to censor these speakers? What reasons for silencing do
they have? I did some research to find out exactly why these speakers were being banned and I came to
an article on NewRepublic titled “Why Colleges Have a Right to Reject Hateful Speakers Like Anne
Coulter”. In the article they state that in most cases the speaker at these events is invited only by a
minority group at the university usually a club or organization and that that in many cases the majority
isn’t in favor with the speaker. The article also states that “rejecting campus speakers is not an assault
on free speech. Rather, like so many other decisions made every day by college students, teachers, and
administrators it’s a value judgement”(Hanlon).

What these people fail to explain and discuss abut colleges and other organizations who try to shut up
speakers is the aftermath of this censorship and how ineffective it is. We see it all the time today these
stories of a speaker getting banned and it ends up on the news. This, having the reverse effect of what
these people are trying to do which is shut them up only giving them a bigger audience. As I’m writing
this there is a hashtag in response to the docu-series about R. Kelly, #MuteRKelly, and in reaction to this
movement his Spotify streams have actually increased. People like me who never even knew who Anne
Coulter was now know about her and what she stands for, the exact opposite thing Cal Berkeley
would’ve wanted. These universities and groups don’t realize it, but they are the ones actually helping
them by censoring. There’s a saying about how any publicity is good publicity and this is the case for
these speakers.

What colleges should do instead of trying and censoring these people is to debate them. How cool
would it be for a university to invite an opposing speaker or just have one of their own professors
debate them. Not only is this more of an effective way to diffuse support for a speaker but it would be
great for students as well. Healthy discourse is a foundation of business, communication, and just a part
of maturing and growing up. Kids in college should be able to do that in the workforce so why not have
professionals do it and maybe just maybe someone might learn something. This isn’t even just for
business or work alone as learning how to discuss things and come to a consensus is helpful everywhere
in life.

New ideas and healthy discourse, advanced critical thinking skills, and the inefficiency of censoring are
all reason as to why our society needs more open and allow everyone a voice no matter how radical or
insensitive. We have a great opportunity now as a society to open these doors of discussion between
ourselves to learn not only new ideas but how to debate as a community. Imagine instead of violent
mobs and protesters an auditorium filled with students and people listening to a debate like we do
before elections. We are squandering these chances at bettering our future business class and shielding
the people who should be most exposed. This is a chance not only to civilize this ever-growing
polarization of political parties but to provide a better future for ourselves as well.
Colin McDaniel
English 1000
Lesson12

Works Cited

Haidt, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan. “How Trigger Warnings Are Hurting Mental Health on Campus.”

The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 31 July 2017,

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/.

Hanlon, Aaron R. “Why Colleges Have a Right to Reject Hateful Speakers Like Ann Coulter.” The New

Republic, 24 Apr. 2017, newrepublic.com/article/142218/colleges-right-reject-hateful-speakers-

like-ann-coulter.

“Notes & Comments: January 2019.” New Criterion, vol. 37, no. 5, Jan. 2019, pp. 1–3. Academic Search

Premier, EBSCOhost, proxy.mul.missouri.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,url,uid&db=aph&AN=133804777&site=ehost-

live&scope=site. Accessed 24 Jan. 2019.

Ojalvo, Holly Epstein. “Do Controversial Figures Have a Right to Speak at Public Universities?” USA

Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 20 Apr. 2017,

www.usatoday.com/story/college/2017/04/20/do-controversial-figures-have-a-right-to-speak-at-

public-universities/37431059/.

Pinker, Steven. “Three Reasons Free Speech Matters |.” FEE, Foundation for Economic Education, 7

Nov. 2014, fee.org/articles/three-reasons-free-speech-matters/.

Wu, Tim. “Is the First Amendment Obsolete?” Michigan Law Review, vol. 117, no. 3, Dec. 2018, pp.

547–581. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, proxy.mul.missouri.edu/login?

url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,url,uid&db=aph&AN=133395645&site=ehost-

live&scope=site. Accessed 24 Jan. 2019.

Reflection
Colin McDaniel
English 1000
Lesson12

This course didn’t just teach me about writing it taught me some of the most valuable lessons I
have learned while at university. While typing this I realize that this class wasn’t just about
writing papers and how to format certain things and how to write a good essay. It was also about
changing the way you think, not taking everything for its face value but actually looking at
thinks rhetorically and creating my own independent opinion. I’ve learned through this course
the ways people can take advantage of speech and writing how people can trick you into
believing false claims. I’ve learned that writers have the ability to take the same scenario but by
looking at it a different way can paint a completely different picture than what happened. I was
brought nostalgia or as much as a college student can feel after only 20 years on this earth from
one of the first writing assignments about my first encounter/struggle with literacy. I learned
more about biases throughout news networks, Fake news (so glad this is the last time I have to
type that phrase), and reading not only just to learn but to understand where the author is coming
from than I think any class could’ve gave me. I can listen to news stories and now identify why
they might withhold information and why some others might tell a completely different tale. I
feel more professional not only in my writing but in my speech from this course as I have been
challenging myself to broaden my vocabulary and in turn have become more confident in my
speech as well. This class has given me more than I could ask for and I’m not just trying to be
cheesy as I write this mandatory reflection, but I genuinely feel that way as I have seen drastic
improvements in my rhetoric and am very thankful for the lessons I have learned.