Censorship isn’t the answer to the Emory Trump Chalkings
To silence one is to silence all
I believe Donald Trump spews hate. I believe his rhetoric is dangerous and destructive. I think he is a bigot and a racist and a liar and a demagogue. He calls Mexicans rapists and criminals, refers to African Americans as “the blacks,” and wants to ban Muslims from entering America. He refers to women as “pigs” and has referred to Jews as the “short guys who wear yarmulkes” who count his money. He has said he would also kill the families of terrorists, a war crime, and would bring back waterboarding, a practice banned under US law.
For all the reasons listed above and many more, it makes perfect sense for some people to feel offended when they wake up to “Vote Trump” and “Trump 2016” and “Accept the Inevitable” scrawled in chalk all over campus. In fact, if you are one of the minorities that he has attacked and you weren’t triggered/upset/unhappy/pissed off about these markings, I might be a little worried.
And Emory was right to wash it off. It probably serves as a distraction for people coming to tour the school. It was written on places where chalk writing isn’t allowed. I could go on and on.
That said, there is one point of contention in which I must vehemently disagree with some of my classmates. The idea that since the name Donald Trump is triggering to them, they shouldn’t have to see it. That they shouldn’t have to be near it. That since Emory is a safe space, the name Donald Trump and anything associated with him should not and must not be seen anywhere, at any time.
One of the reasons this notion is unacceptable is the right of American freedom of speech. This right grants all of us the opportunity to say what you want freely within reason, and that even if people disagree with you, you can still say it. And you won’t get fined for it, or go to jail for it, or face any other kind of punishment for saying what you believe.
Our attempted censorship of Donald Trump is truly hypocritical. We, as students of Emory University, have voluntarily submitted ourselves to Emory’s anti-discrimination policy. And part of that policy says that we must be “dedicated to the ideals of free academic discourse in teaching, scholarship, and community service.” And that, “contention among different views is positive and necessary for the expansion of knowledge, both for the University itself and as a training ground for society at large.”
How can we honestly say we have abided by this policy if we protest and say that “Emory is racist” and “Emory hates us” and promise not to give up until Emory has removed all of the writing of a student or students with whom we disagree, and essentially promises to never allow anything associated with Trump on campus?
To the people who protested at President Wagner’s office and in the DUC I have two questions:
First, would you have reacted with the same vigor and passion if it had been Bernie or Hillary or Cruz or Kasich or any politician other than Trump scrawled on the ground? Would there have been a conduct council hearing? And don’t tell me that’s not a fair question because those people aren’t triggering–you should know as well as anyone that just because it doesn’t trigger you doesn’t mean it doesn’t trigger someone else.
And second, what are you going to do when you are in the workforce and you encounter someone you vehemently disagree with – someone who supports Donald Trump or a demagogue like him? Are you going to go to your boss and tell them to fire the said person because of their beliefs? Are you going to demand the company shut down?
And so, my friends, while you may be like me and disagree with Donald Trump and his viewpoints, you cannot forcibly silence others people’s voices.
You have every right in the world to protest and stand up for what you believe in and call for the rejection of an ideology or message you think is wrong–but you don’t have the right to forcefully prohibit someone from showing support for a candidate you think is racist or bigoted–even if you think he is the worst person in the entire world.
Emory, it’s time that we take a hard look in the mirror, and realize that a rejection of one of us is a rejection of all of us.