Free Speech In Sarah Brown's The Chronicle Of Higher Education

Improved Essays
The first amendment, freedom of speech, is a contested idea based on its interpretation. There are two interpretations of the first amendment. The first of the two interpretations is that all speech is free to be said, without penalty or law impeding on a person’s beliefs (United States Constitution). The conservative movement pertains to those that mostly identify as current day Republicans.
Generally Republicans support the first of the two interpretations of free speech.
Republicans take a literal view of the first amendment and believe hate speech or not, all speech even including unpopular speech, should be free to be said. The second of the two interpretations is that some free speech is hate speech. The second interpretation argues that
…show more content…
This is an example of competing power dynamics
(conservative/ liberal) influencing the dynamic of day-to-day life at universities.
Who is right? And who is wrong? Or is there a right or wrong decision in this scenario? These are the subjects that will be discussed in the following essay.
In favor of free speech is Sarah Brown. In Sarah Brown’s The Chronicle of
Higher Education, a black student known as Mr. Freeman who identifies as a liberal supports free speech and limiting campus protester demands. “In November, Mr.
Freeman helped launch a sort of protest against the protesters. He joined nine other students to form the Princeton Open Campus Coalition, which professes to protect students ' right to voice their opinions "in a manner free from intimidation"(Brown
1). Freeman has voiced that he would enjoy open conversations with those that disagree with his opinion; however, he will not answer to those that want their way or the highway. The same groups at Princeton of which Freeman disagrees with have argued many demands on their own behalf. Such demands from the likes of
Princeton’s Black Justice League activists call for the removal of Woodrow

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