#SLOSolidarity Movement and Civil Discourse

Every year, the Cal Poly College Republicans erect a Freedom of Speech to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is there to remind us of the freedom we possess in which to say what we want without fear of government persecution. As expected, a few people made offensive remarks towards people of color, gays and lesbians, and other minorities.

The night after it was put up, around a hundred or so students gathered to protest those remarks. I, as a College Republican, was there to ensure that the wall wasn’t taken down. The Cal Poly College Republicans don’t endorse, in fact condemn what was said on the wall. However, we will defend their right to say it because of the freedom of speech guaranteed under the First Amendment.

What makes this different from the University of Missouri and the Yale protests is that no one is calling to tear down the wall down except for a few students. I met with several of them and talked with them about it. We talked and it was apparent that though they were offended by the remarks, they weren’t going to try and take them down.They didn’t call for censorship of the wall, instead they decided to do what the First Amendment is designed to do. They have decided to use their freedom of speech to spread their ideas of a more inclusive environment, because they feel unsafe on campus for whatever reason. Just like how you deserve to feel safe within your home and property, you have a right to feel safe on campus. What you don’t have a right to is freedom from other ideas and speech which may offend you.

They are bringing awareness to their cause, instead of calling for people to be fired, the censorship of the offensive remarks and others, they’re using their First Amendment rights to call for a campus climate where people can have discussions about race, religion, and other sensitive issues which face this nation. They’re calling for a dialogue about issues that matter to them and I support that because it is a clash of ideas and the freedom of civil discourse.

Here’s a conversation I had with someone on Twitter about it. She thought that the Wall was built as a response to what was happening at University of Missouri and Yale.

I don’t condone racism or bigotry of any kind. If someone says something stupid, then someone has the right to say what they think about those remarks. Unlike what we see in a lot of universities, this dialogue which was created between different organizations and people of different backgrounds allowed for a civil and productive discussion. And it happened. There is no call for censorship. Just a campus-wide dialogue on sensitive issues which some feel is needed.

And I think it’s a wonderful thing.

Here’s the official press release from the Cal Poly College Republicans:

To begin, the Free Speech Wall is an annual tradition of the Cal Poly College Republicans that is constructed on November 9th, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The purpose of the wall is to celebrate the fact we, in the United States, have the freedom to express our views and opinions openly without fear of repercussion from the government. The Free Speech Wall was in no way a response to protests and student movements at The University of Missouri and Yale University. The Cal Poly College Republicans have been planning this project since September and gained approval from Cal Poly ASI before construction. It was unfortunate that the recent protests and our celebration of the right to freedom of speech happen to fall within the same week. We had no intentions to diminish the efforts of students involved in these protests.

We acknowledge the fact that individuals of Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo may have been offended by the words and depictions displayed on the Free Speech Wall. We do not condone, in fact we condemn, the use of hateful statements towards the transgender community, people of any religious doctrine, political philosophy, gender identity, etc. In light of these statements, we strongly encourage and applaud the response from the ‪#‎SloSolidarity‬ movement and others as they use their right to free speech to educate the community about these issues rather than attempting to silence other people’s right to free speech.

Sincerely,
Cal Poly College Republicans