First Amendment Applies to Conservative Speech Too

THE RIGHT ANGLE: Freedom applies to conservative speech too - Opinions

On April 12, Erskine Bolwes was inaugurated as president of the UNC-system. The ceremony was held at UNCG's own Aycock Auditorium and was preceded by a parade leading down Spring Garden Street, where many students lined the streets to welcome Bowles to our university. One day earlier, a student organization hung a banner in the Elliott University Center to greet Bowles in a very different way. The banner, which was visible the moment one walked in the front of the EUC, read, "College Republicans welcome Senator President Erskine Bowles... Someone had to hire him!"

Most people, including Bowles himself, realized the sign was simply poking fun at Bowles' two failed Senate campaigns. Others were not quite so enamored with the sign, saying it was "disrespectful" or "inappropriate." One of these people, a faculty member from the Bryan School, actually took down the banner on the day of Bowles' inauguration. The banner was soon found and returned to its rightful place, and the faculty member was told it is not his place to make that decision. Ironically, Bowles found the banner so amusing that he personally asked the College Republicans if he could have it to hang in his office.

This stunt couldn't have come at a better time. The very next day, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Tim Johnston hosted an Honors Coffee with the topic, "Does UNCG welcome the expression of conservative opinions?" It ended up being more of a discussion than a speech, but enlightening nonetheless. Being one of only three openly conservative students who attended, I actually did a lot of the talking.

The reaction was not what I expected. I had come ready to fight with whomever dared tell me I was imagining this liberal bias in academia. To my surprise, Dr. Johnston as well as the other faculty in attendance seemed shocked to hear how openly biased some professors are with their classes. There seemed to be a general consensus that this was to be somewhat expected, since 90 percent of the faculty at this university tend to be left-leaning. However, it was generally agreed upon that professors never have the right to ridicule their students for their beliefs. I entertained them with several stories of my favorite sociology professor who enjoyed making fun of me and my arguments on a daily basis.

Almost two years ago, I wrote a column on liberal bias at UNCG, and I had to go looking for feedback. I asked students in my political science classes (both conservative and liberal) and other random students around school if they thought their professors tended to be more welcome to liberal comments than conservative ones. As a result, I found several conservative students who pretend to be liberal while in classes with liberal professors, and liberal students who admitted there was clearly a bias in their favor.

I can't be sure what it is that's changed. Whether professors have become more blatantly liberal, conservative students have become more angry and fed up with the bias, or Facebook has just made it that much easier for people to contact me, not a week passes that I don't receive several IMs or emails about ridiculously liberal professors. Not many go into detail, but they'll say things like, "Why does my Spanish teacher insist on telling us why we shouldn't have gone to war with Iraq? You should write a column on this." Some of the best messages came back in January and February when students would contact me to let me know their professor was ripping my Angela Davis columns apart piece by piece, and that it had absolutely nothing to do with the topic of the class.

Now, I'm all for freedom of speech, and I would never advocate putting restrictions on what anyone can say (nor would I say we should use affirmative action to hire more conservatives, as one person suggested at Honors Coffee), but I would hope our professors could do the same thing. And if some of them are so intent on turning us all into bleeding hearts, they need to realize they'll catch more flies with honey. Many of my views on women's political issues have indeed become more liberal since taking a Women and Gender Studies course with a professor who was very open to discussion about other sides of the issues. And because my ideas were respected, rather than simply squashed because of their inherently anti-women, right-wing qualities, I was more likely to respect other views on those same subjects, which made a lot more sense than I cared to admit at the time.

Professors that refuse to hear conservative arguments in their classrooms are only teaching their students to be more close-minded. The students who were already liberal to begin with become more liberal, feeling justified in doing so. Likewise, the more conservative-leaning students band together and become more conservative because they are being attacked from every angle. The end result is fewer moderate students, and every little thing becomes a political war.

And, after being here for four years, I've found I learn more under professors who are less blatantly biased, I've learned who they are, and I've succeeded in filling my schedule with their classes.

However, not all the blame can be placed on professors. Conservative students who refuse to point out their views in class for fear of ridicule don't have very much room to complain. You can't accuse a professor of being liberally biased if you don't at least try to point out the inequalities.

Two years after my first "liberal bias in academia," I realize my anger isn't over having conservative views silenced in the classroom; it's having anyone's views silenced. We're here to learn, and learning means being able to take all views into account. Professors shouldn't make fun of our opinions or try to make us feel we'll be graded down for not agreeing with them, but students should also stand up for their own ideas in class. If we don't exercise our freedom of speech, we'll have no reason to complain when it is taken away.

Affirmative Action Speaker Meets Packed House, Closed Minds

THE RIGHT ANGLE: Affirmative action speaker meets packed house, closed minds - Opinions

Race issues, as I mentioned in a column just a month ago, are some of the trickiest and most sensitive topics out there. Unfortunately, race seems to play into some of the most widely-discussed matters, including affirmative action, immigration, and, at UNCG, the SGA elections. White people often hesitate to comment against a lot of these issues publicly, for fear of being labeled a racist. When I took this job two years ago, I decided to avoid most of these subjects for that very reason, although that apparently went down the drain when my Angela Davis column was published. And now it seems I can't stop writing about them. My friends are praying for me, and my editor is pretty sure I'm insane.

But the issue of inequality is something I'm very passionate about. I recently did an interview with Spartan TV concerning affirmative action, immigration, and gay rights, mostly because the other College Republicans declined to comment on the issues, for the very reason I stated above. To me, affirmative action just seems to lower the bar for minorities and women, and while it may appear to help them, in reality, isn't it doing little more than assuming they can't do things well enough on their own? As a woman, I feel quotas are a slap in the face, and an assumption that maybe I couldn't get a job in this "man's world" without any help.

Last week, entrepreneur/entertainer Reginald Jones gave a speech at UNCG entitled "Betrayal: Sold Out by the Civil Rights Movement" which was co-sponsored by the College Republicans, the Young America's Foundation, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Jones is an African-American Libertarian and a 25-year veteran of the entertainment industry. He is very much opposed to affirmative action, and he bases his beliefs on the way he worked his way to the top from humble beginnings in the South Bronx. Listening to his speech last Tuesday night, I realized that I wasn't alone in my views on these issues, and that having these views did not make me a racist, as some people might claim.

As you can imagine, the response to Jones' appearance was not entirely positive. This is partly due to the advertisements that wallpapered academic buildings to announce his speech, which bore controversial messages, such as "Minority? Democrat? Why?" In fact, the fliers were torn down at an amazing rate, and many people wrote answers on them or comments such as, "Does anyone else find this racist?" One person even "cleverly" made their own posters to combat the originals, which read "Demo-Minority? Autocrat? Why?" I am still perplexed as to what that means, and I welcome any explanations.

Now I know people don't like to hear views which disagree with their own, and I expected a rather small turnout based on this theory. I was partly right. The audience would have been rather pathetic had the African-American Studies Program not urged their students to attend the speech. The end result was a good crowd which held many viewpoints different from Jones'. Unfortunately, we can't be entirely sure how much of an effect that had on anyone in the audience. I sat in amazement as UNCG students, during the speech, reacted loudly in disagreement to Reginald Jones. "Redneck" and "race traitor" are only a few of the terms I heard thrown out as a reaction to his views. I know it's human nature to celebrate ideas that we agree with and to ridicule those we don't, but I also know if I can sit through an entire Angela Davis speech and keep my composure even as the audience stood to cheer and applaud her "Let's impeach Bush NOW!" line, Tuesday night's audience could have held in their rude comments until after the event.

Now whether or not Reginald Jones could hear the comments or not, they are nothing he hasn't heard before, and he continued with his speech without missing a beat. Other schools who have hosted Jones have said that he loves the question/answer session, and that he will debate everyone, and this event was no exception. In fact, the question and answer session ran so long that most students had to leave during it, and Jones did not leave the building until 10:30 p.m. Unfortunately, the majority of the "questions" from the audience were not questions, but rather comments regarding the problems people had with Jones' point of view. There were many intelligent responses to his speech, and a few that were a little "out there", including one College Democrat (who happens to be white) who stated that we should just "overthrow the government and kill all the white people." When Reginald Jones refused to humor him with a response, the audience overwhelmingly denounced Jones' "racism" and claimed that he would have responded to a black student who had made this same statement. Now, I'm not sure what part of Jones' speech made everyone think that he would promote that idea, or that he is racist against white people, but that seemed to be the group consensus.

I have to say, I expected a passionate reaction from the audience, but I never expected what occurred. An African-American Studies lecturer, Tracy Salisbury, who credited herself with bringing so many students to the speech, used a majority of the question and answer time to argue with Jones. Regrettably, there was little debate in what she said. It was mostly just anger or accusations at the fact that he was supposedly avoiding answering her questions. Salisbury seemed upset that Jones wasn't able to answer very many of the students' questions, yet she managed to interrupt several students and Jones himself on many occasions. She stood up and yelled her comments at Jones in what seemed to be a very unfriendly manner, all while proudly proclaiming that she is a UNCG lecturer and even lamenting the fact that there are rarely any white people in her classes.

After the speech, several students informed me that they were embarrassed by this lecturer's conduct, and I can see where they are coming from. I expected students to react in this manner, but I never thought a lecturer, someone who should be representing UNCG and its faculty, would put on such a show. If Ms. Salisbury is really concerned about the number of white students who take her class then perhaps she needs to stop blaming racism and look at the way she sells both herself and the African-American Studies Program. In last month's column, I asked why white students don't take AFS classes, but I think I got an answer to my question Tuesday night.

Refuting Accusations of Racism

THE RIGHT ANGLE: Refuting accusations of racism - Opinions

I have come to realize that my last column has generated a great deal of controversy, and I would like to take this time, if I may, to explain myself in greater detail.

I have been approached by several students in the last week saying that they found the views expressed in my previous column to be racist. I would like to apologize to anyone who took them in that way. My column was not intended to be racist, and had I known it would be taken that way, I would not have written it. My overall objective was to express my disapproval with Angela Davis as the school's choice for a MLK Day speaker. It was my opinion that a more fitting speaker could have been chosen, and I stand by that opinion.

I have received a lot of emails asking me what I meant specifically when I used the word "sheep" in my last column. A lot of students took that to mean that I was referring to the entire audience, which was predominantly African-American. I was actually referring to the many people who seemed to be deeply engrossed in the socialist propaganda that had been handed out at the entrance to the event. I apologize profusely to anyone who thought I was making a racist comment with that statement. I tend to use the word "sheep" to represent anyone who adheres to the socialist ideals, whether they be white, black, or purple with yellow polka dots, and I saw audience members of ALL backgrounds reading the newsletter.

Some people have also accused me of saying that racism is not a problem in America today. On the contrary, I realize that racism IS a problem in America, but I feel that Angela Davis used that racism to promote socialism. The race issue is a touchy one, and I don't know for sure if it will ever be solved, but I do not think that socialism would eradicate racism, as I think Davis tried to imply.

The reason I felt the need to write out this apology is because I know I would not want to feel that my race or gender had been targeted by a student columnist. As a woman, I myself am from a historically disadvantaged group, and if a male columnist had made statements that I found to be sexist, I'm sure I would be angry as well as hurt. I never wanted to put anyone through that, and I'm very sorry if I did.

An Evening With Angela Davis

THE RIGHT ANGLE: An evening with Angela Davis - Opinions

In last week's column, I suggested that Angela Davis might not be the best choice for a Martin Luther King Day speaker. While many people agreed with me, there were also those who tried to tell me that a person did not have to necessarily emulate Dr. King in order to speak in honor of him. I decided to give them all the benefit of the doubt and attended the event.

I arrived at Aycock Auditorium early Tuesday evening with about eight friends of mine. We were greeted at the door not by ushers, but by socialists handing out anti-Bush fliers, signaling what kind of event this would prove to be. Although we thought we were early, the auditorium was already packed, and we were forced to find seating in the balcony. As we settled into a row that could accommodate all of us, I looked around to get a glimpse of my fellow audience members. I found myself completely surrounded by hundreds of people who seemed to be deeply engrossed in reading the socialists' "Impeach Bush" flier. That's about the time I realized I would be spending the next two hours with a couple thousand sheep.

Angela Davis opened her speech with some thoughts on Dr. King: some background on his work, the hardships he faced in his career, some of his beliefs, and so on. I was shocked, yet relieved, to hear her actually speak on what she was supposed to be speaking on. Of course, it didn't last. Within a matter of minutes, Davis had not-so-subtly changed the entire mood of her speech from "Let's Honor Dr. King" to "Let's Impeach Bush NOW."

For the remainder of her time on stage, Angela Davis preached a message of hate to her audience. She spent a good deal of time making jokes about famous black conservatives such as Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Clarence Thomas. Apparently, according to her logic (and judging by the supportive applause from a good majority of the audience), African-Americans who become successful are no longer considered to be "really" black. Or maybe that only applies to conservative African-Americans. Davis never really specified, nor gave any reason for the apparent race change that occurs somewhere along the way.

And then of course there was the obligatory blaming of George W. Bush for Hurricane Katrina. Davis' conclusion on the issue? Kanye was right: George Bush does indeed hate poor black people. In fact, he spends so much time hating them, that I can't believe he has time for anything else. The way Davis painted President Bush, he apparently spends his every waking moment playing golf and dreaming up new ways to get rid of all black Americans.

Around this time in her rant, several audience members left the auditorium, including three of the people I was sitting with (who later told me they had better things to do with their time). Among the students leaving in disgust was a fellow College Republican who had actually been looking forward to hearing Davis speak. This student's uncle was one of the twelve miners that recently died in the Sago mine disaster only a few weeks ago, and she understandably had a serious issue with Davis blaming the Katrina debacle on racism. As she stood up to leave, she whispered to me, "Those people were left in that mine for hours while everyone just sat around wondering what to do. People called them rednecks and 'backwoods faggots,' but [Davis] doesn't want to mention that."

And she made a good point. Angela Davis seemed to be pushing the message that racism is the root of all evil in this country, but at least her tunnel vision was apparent to a few of us. If you're going to point to the African-Americans who have been hurt by an inefficient system, why not at least mention the whites who have suffered as well? Maybe racism isn't the problem in the Katrina disaster - maybe the problem is that humans make mistakes, and people suffer as a result, regardless of ethnic background.

Angela Davis ended her speech, not with some deep thoughts on how to bring about change in racist America, but by screaming, "Let's impeach Bush now!" After the cheering died down, Davis took questions from the audience. The very first came from a student who expressed disappointment over the fact that Davis had spent two hours telling us all what to be angry about, but not what to do about it. He asked her, "What can I do?" Davis' cowardly reply was that it was not her place to tell him what to do. Rather, she told the student, "You should be telling me what I can do."

This cop out of an answer shows the real problem in America. Everywhere, people are willing and ready to complain about the state of things, but no one is really interested in doing anything to bring about change. People like Angela Davis spend their lives telling people about how wrong and evil everything is, and yet they expect someone else to fix it for them. Davis needs to realize that nothing will ever get accomplished if everyone stands around blaming everyone else for their problems - just like I was forced to realize that I'll never get those wasted two hours of my life back.

UNCG Ignores Martin Luther King's Legacy

THE RIGHT ANGLE: UNCG ignores Martin Luther King's legacy - Opinions

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man, and there are very few people who will dispute that. Around this time of year, Americans remember Dr. King for his wisdom and courage in striving to bring about racial harmony in a peaceful, non-violent manner during such a tumultuous time in history.

On Tuesday, January 17, UNCG will hold a celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The keynote speaker for this event will be Angela Davis. Sean Olson from University Relations has described her as being "one of the biggest names in black feminism" in a University News article found on UNCG's website. In that same article, Audrey Daniel, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, stated, "The significance of Angela Davis to Martin Luther King's legacy is the fact that she challenged and continues to challenge social inequality in our society."

Angela Davis has been quite the controversial character in civil rights history. A member of both the Communist Party and the Black Panther Party, Davis fell in love with George Jackson, a fellow Black Panther serving time in prison for theft and murder, in 1970. In several letters written to Jackson, Davis promised to dedicate her life to freeing him using whatever means necessary. That August, Jackson's 17-year-old brother, Jonathan, attempted to free him by interrupting a trial with an automatic weapon, freeing three prisoners (and giving them guns as well), and taking a judge hostage in exchange for the release of George. The judge was killed, as well as two of the prisoners, and several other members of the courtroom were injured. The weapons used during this raid all belonged to Angela Davis, who suspiciously fled to New York three hours after the event.

The shotgun that killed the judge was registered to Davis, and under California law, abetting a killer before the act is guilty of murder as well. After living as a fugitive for two months, Davis was arrested and taken back to California, where the incident had occurred. Her 1972 trial proved to be one of much publicity and debate, with many people claiming she was no more than a political prisoner. She was acquitted of all charges, regardless of the fact that the prosecution had submitted 201 exhibits and called 95 witnesses. Because Davis claims she suffered for 18 months in prison unjustly, she has dedicated herself to the abolition of America's prison system.

How can anyone read the above story and think, "This is the kind of woman that I'd like to speak at my university in honor of MLK Day?" Regardless of whether or not she's guilty of murder, her involvement in the violent Black Panthers alone should prove that she is clearly not an advocate of peace, as Dr. King so firmly was. Her almost undeniable involvement in the killing of the California judge certainly underlines the fact that she is not the kind of woman you want as a role model. Why are we honoring her as one?

On top of everything else, Angela Davis is a hypocrite. In Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Warning to the West, the author describes how, after Davis' acquittal and release from prison, she was urged by a group of Czech dissidents to stand up for the Czechs being imprisoned for opposing Communism. Davis' reply was a cold, "They deserve what they get. Let them remain in prison." Her logic is a bit confusing. After all, she supports the abolition of prisons in America, which I would suppose means she doesn't want our murderers, thieves, and rapists locked up, and yet, she was fine with the imprisonment of the Czech rebels. Nevermind the fact that Davis herself was considered a "political prisoner;" apparently, those who dissent against Communism "deserve what they get."

I support Davis' freedom to rage against the "prison industrial complex" in America. I support her right to preach the wonders of Communism. What I do not support is UNCG's decision to have her speak in honor of Martin Luther King Day. It is a travesty to compare that woman to the greatest peace-loving civil rights leader of all time. I am also fairly certain that Dr. King would not want a Black Panther speaking in remembrance of him.

It is true that we still have a long way to go as far as racial equality is concerned in America, but it is also true that was have come a long way from the segregated schools, water fountains, and lunch counters. Dr. King did a great deal to advance the civil rights movement in this country; the same cannot be said for Angela Davis.



Some information for this column was taken from William Manchester's The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative history of the United States 1932-1972.