The facts: The GLBT Center vandalism last week resulted in the “State not Hate” event on tolerance and awareness. Last year, the Free Expression Tunnel incidents of hate speech resulted in the “Respect the Pack” event.
Our opinion: These events deal with the situation in the most effective way of changing attitudes, but should not attempt to silence others’ opinions, because of First Amendment protection.
The few times N.C . State actually has incidents of hate speech or intolerance toward others, various University organizations deal with it in a prompt and effective manner. Student groups like the GLBT Center, Student Government and Union Activities Board respond to such acts of hatred by spreading awareness toward the targeted group.
Last week, the GLBT Center vandalism was met with “State not Hate,” an event that demonstrated the power of our student body speaking out against hate speech, like the spray painted “fags burn” and “die.”
While this type of action is the desired way of dealing with such incidents, there is no line between free speech and hate speech—unfortunately, hate speech falls under the umbrella of free speech.
The First Amendment protects all Americans’ rights to say what they want to say. It protects the Klu Klux Klan and Black Panthers when they assemble peacefully, as well as allows them to give their messages filled with hate. In return, it allows student organizations to come to together peacefully in an event devoted to promoting tolerance in response to intolerant behavior.
When these incidents occur, students and faculty should face it with awareness and tolerance; however, they should not combat such crimes with attempts to silence these individuals. Their only true crime was defacing University property.
The amendment protects all citizens and can serve as a loophole for those who promote hate. The fact is, they have every right to say what they want, as do those who fight against hate speech.
Idealists will say we must promote a society that will tolerate all groups; however these same idealists are intolerant to those who speak out against said groups. The reason this is the ideal solution is because we can never reach a point where everyone in our society will tolerate everyone else.
Aside from altering the way people react to hate speech, organizations deal with this matter effectively by using these moments to educate. However, they must realize they cannot single-handedly change society’s perspective.
Many student organizations believe they can change people’s views overnight, but they must understand they cannot silence those speaking their own opinions. If this were the case, they would be turning into the very people they protest against—those intolerant of others. Don’t allow such acts to affect us as a campus more than they already do.
