Keeing Freedom of Speech Alive (FD4)

Alexander Lau

12 Aug. 2011

FD4

Keeping Freedom of Speech Alive

Freedom of Speech is one of our basic rights as Americans. The right to free speech allows Americans to express their thoughts in verbal, visual, and written form. [Thesis] Citizens of the United States such as Ward Churchill, have the right to express their thoughts regardless of the negativity of their words. [Thesis]

Our right to speak freely is an important aspect and basic right as US Citizens. The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights allows for, “the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” (The Bill). There are, however, certain instances where speech can be prohibited. According to Cornell Law School, “The Supreme Court has also recognized that the government may prohibit some speech that may cause a breach of the peace or cause violence.”

Ward Churchill is the author of “Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens.” His paper and speeches are seen as controversial. In his paper, Ward Churchill writes about how the attacks on the World Trade Center were just “chickens coming home to roost.” Throughout the paper, Ward Churchill makes adamantly clear that he feels the American people need to understand and be held responsible for the actions of their country, regardless if those citizens had any direct influence or not. In his paper, Ward Churchill quoted a line in a movie, “that when you push people around, some people push back.” The attack on the World Trade Center was just a country pushing back or in other words “chickens coming home to roost.”

In his paper, Ward Churchill calls the victims of the World Trade Center “technocratic,” and also refers to them as little Eichmanns. He called them technocratic because the WTC is full of people who are technical expects of global finances working for the United States. He also refers to the WTC victims as little Einchmanns because in WW2 Eichmanns were Germans that kept rails and services running throughout the Nazi campaign. The people working at the WTC are likened to little Einchmanns is because they helped fund America’s wars overseas. As long as the country keeps moving the wars can conintue.

Ward Churchill’s ideas and how he has expressed them has gotten him in hot water. His words have angered a lot of people in the country, especially the victims of 9/11. He is fully aware of the contents of his paper and defends those ideals to this day. Therefore, he offers no apology to those that feel he should. Ward Churchill is a man willing to express his ideals to others regardless of the consequences that follow. Craig Gima has quoted Churchill as saying, “I never wanted to be a poster boy for academic freedom. You can’t give an inch. If you let this one down, you’ve lost it all.” Without people like Churchill, we maybe never hear about the true or think about a situation differently.

Despite his insensitive words of choice in his paper, Ward Churchill has the right to express his thoughts. The First Amendment gives him that right. Freedom of Speech protects many other people like Ward Churchill from being persecuted or censored against. Without the First Amendment, anything written or spoken could be censored by the government for material they deem inappropriate. However, the forefathers of America knew how important the people’s voices are and added our right to speak freely under the First Amendment within the Bill of Rights.

The victims of 9/11 also have their right to free speech by protesting against Ward Churchill. They feel what Churchill says is wrong and he should apologize for those words. They are well in their right to express their anger, but Churchill himself feels he did nothing wrong to warrant an apology. Churchill is right. No matter how insensitive Churchill is, the First Amendment protects him.

The feelings of the 9/11 victims are understandable. Freedom of Speech can be abused at times. For this reason, people like Churchill really need to take responsibility for what they say and write. The First Amendment is not just a right, but also a responsibility we must be concerned with when we do exercise our right to speak freely.

There are, however, certain situations where Freedom of Speech needs to be censored. The phrase “too much of a good thing” can be applied to Freedom of Speech. There are times where Freedom of Speech is taken advantage of, and one of those times is hate speech. Hate speech is an attacking on an individual or group to encourage violence or prejudice against certain human characteristics, such as race, religion, and gender.

Ward Churchill’s paper is not hate speech. The words he uses are not the most appropriate, but there is no intent to encourage violence or prejudice against any individual or group. He just wants to inform the audience of his views of the situations between the U.S. and the world. Thanks to the First Amendment, Ward Churchill is able to express those views. Whether you like him or not, he has the right to speak his mind.

As I grew up, I was oblivious to what the First Amendment was, let alone knowing what Freedom of Speech is. Even to this day, I find myself thinking whether the right to freedom of speech actually affects me. After writing this paper, I find myself thinking and appreciating a lot more about our First Amendment. I realized, thinking about how the First Amendment affects me alone is just shallow thinking. The First Amendment affects every U.S. citizen. And, because of this right I am able to read papers, articles, poetry, and books without censorship. I found Ward Churchill’s paper to be controversial yet intriguing, but if the First Amendment was not established I would not have been able to read such a paper.

After spending the time to do a little research for this paper, I realized, I do use the First Amendment a lot and have never thought twice about the right to free speech. I am not a particular fan of how the government is being run at times, and I do engage in discussions occasionally with my peers about our government. If I were not protected by the First Amendment, my views would probably be seen as treasonous and be jailed for them. I’m glad we were given Freedom of Speech as our topic as I would of taken our right for granted.

In our discussion on attacking Ward Churchill, Chelsey Mcdonald argued, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” There are times where Chelsey is right, such as hate speech. However, playing nice does not always convey our views to the audience. If we played nice, there would not be any arguments on controversial topics because no one would want to hurt other people’s feelings. Truly expressing how we feel through our views is important. We want to convey our passions in our views. If being bad and hurting people’s feelings is the only way to get our point across then we do what we need to do. At times, not playing nice is necessary, and the First Amendment allows us to so.

In defending Ward Churchill, Kalea Perry states, “He writes and speaks about what he believes in and as an American Citizen he has this right.” Kalea is right. America’s First Amendment allows for Americans to express their views and beliefs. Kalea also mentions about how Ward Churchill and people like him help to keep a balance of information. Without people like Ward Churchill, ordinary people might never be informed about controversial issues, such as how our government is being ruined. Kalea also writes, “Those entities love to talk about Professor Churchill, often times, he is the news.” I found this important because news thrives on controversies such as Ward Churchill and his paper. Because of this, people are aware of Churchill’s paper and position. This creates awareness and discussion.

The First Amendment and our right to free speech is a very important right we have as American Citizens. People such as Ward Churchill, are allowed to express their views despite how controversial they may be. Ward Churchill may not have used the best words to convey his views, but thanks to the First Amendment people will be able to read his paper and decide for themselves whether they support Churchill or not. This is important because different views allow for discussion and helps spread awareness. As long as what we say does not encourage violence, we have the right to say or write whatever we want despite how other may react because as Americans we have our right to free speech. However, we must also acknowledge the fact as individuals we alone do not solely hold those rights and those rights are shared freely with all American Citizens and we must respect their right to express their views freely even if we disagree with them. Therefore, as American Citizens, we can better understand and criticize each other in a harmonious manner to help improve upon ourselves and those around us.

Works Cited

"First Amendment: An Overview." N.d. Legal Information Instiitute. Cornell Law School. 5 June 2003. 9 Aug. 2011  [http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html].

Gima, Craig. "Churchill Attacks Essay's Critics." Starbulletin.com 23 Feb. 2005. 9 Aug. 2011 [http://starbulletin.com/2005/02/23/news/index2.html].

Mcdonald, Chelsey. “Attack Churchill.” Online posting. 5 Aug. 2011. Laulima Discussion. 9 Aug. 2011 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.35103.201140/page/eb4947ce-d356-43a3-b5fc-927bacb6d070].

Perry, Kalea. “Defending Ward Churchill.” Online posting. 8 Aug. 2011. Laulima Discussion. 9 Aug. 2011 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.35103.201140/page/eb4947ce-d356-43a3-b5fc-927bacb6d070].

"Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens." N.d. _Dark Night Press_. From _Pockets of Resistance_, 11 Sep. 2001. 9 Aug. 2011 [http://www.darknightpress.org/index.php?i=news&c=recent&view=9&long=1].

"The Bill of Rights." N.d. NARA Webpage. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. 20 June 2004. 9 Aug. 2011 [http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/bill_of_rights_transcript.html].

Log of Completed Activities
__X__ Aug. 3- Intro to Paper #4. Read the Guidelines for Paper #4.
__X__ Aug. 4- Complete readings for paper #4.
__X__ Aug. 5- Laulima Discussion: Attack Ward Churchill
__X__ Aug. 8- Laulima Discussion: Defend Ward Churchill
__X__ Aug. 9- Submit RD4. [50 pts] Review the Review the guidelines.
__X__ Aug. 10- Submit three RD4 evaluations [50 pts] Review the guidelines.
__X__ Aug. 11-14- Submit FD4 [150 pts] Review the guidelines.