Nazi-punching: Coming soon to a campus near you
Actually, that probably won’t be the case, as the person responsible for showing up, Richard Spencer, was rejected from speaking at The Ohio State University (OSU). He put in a request to speak this November but was swiftly rejected in the beginning of September.
Union County residents should be aware of this for their personal safety and the real matter at hand. Freedom of speech is under attack, and it has been more apparent with the emergence of the alt-right movement.
For context, Spencer is the face of the alt-right movement and is a self-proclaimed white nationalist. For this, he has been called a Nazi by those who dislike his message, with it going as far as him getting punched during a live interview in January, thus called a “Nazi punch.”
Since then, you’ve probably seen how people and the media have painted a picture of modern day Nazis espousing hateful rhetoric. With this, many people have been arguing over freedom of speech rights and if someone like Spencer has the right to speak in a public space, specifically a university campus.
I believe the situation is utterly baffling. Why would we as a society be arguing about the freedoms granted by the First Amendment once we see something that is deplorable in our eyes? Then again, once there’s a shooting in the news, people are ready to, forgive the pun, “jump the gun” on getting rid of the Second Amendment.
Unlike gun control debates after a mass shooting, however, freedom of speech debates don’t die down a week after Spencer makes a speech or some guys in white polos carry tiki torches in town.
Our Constitution isn’t perfect, but because of it, we enjoy many more freedoms than lots of other people in the world.
For an example, within another Western civilization like the United Kingdom, they have laws that prohibit inflammatory speech against racial parties or those of other sexualities. With that comes a very arbitrary and gray-area interpretation of this law, and that leads to people paying exorbitant fines for their speech.
Meanwhile, in America, our First Amendment allows us the freedom to voice our ideas, even if they are ideologically abhorred by others. The governing of controversial or offensive ideas would be extremely prohibitive and would fall under the same arbitration people suffer in the United Kingdom. It sort of gives you the Orwellian idea of “thought-policing.”
Because we allow the freedom to speak one’s mind, so long as it isn’t based in threats or violence (there are safeguards for everything), we have to let in those ideas we find to be vile.
With the subject matter of white nationalism being presented, rather than screeching about how those kind of ideas should be banned from public spaces, it should instead be stimulating conversation about those ideas. It should be leading to peaceful discussions about why Spencer or the alt-right is right or wrong about these views.
Unfortunately, with the rise in popularity of “Nazi punching,” people have been reacting to these demonstrations of freedom of speech in violent ways. These people also engage in silencing their opponents by shouting over them or by sabotaging their events.
You’ve probably heard of this talking point too, but colleges are places of intellectual growth, stimulation and advancement. Controversial ideas should be welcomed at these public institutions.
Speaking of public institutions, OSU is a public school and is only raising legal concerns by barring Spencer from speaking. Public schools and other public places shouldn’t be thought-policing ideas at this level.
I encourage residents who are or have children attending OSU to talk about what the First Amendment means to them and to critically analyze the attack on it. It all starts with an extreme example of why we wouldn’t supposedly “need” the freedom, and it will only get worse from there.
With something painted as such an extreme as the alt-right is, people are more accepting of schools like OSU carrying out these freedom of speech-infringing actions.
Besides, Spencer has an army of lawyers and isn’t afraid to sue a school to speak. He’s won court cases against schools like Auburn University in Alabama, and he wouldn’t be afraid to sue OSU.
-Jacob Runnels is a reporter for the Journal-Tribune.