Today, a number of prominent free speech groups are expressing concern over student reaction on several campuses to a controversial ad that recently ran in college newspapers across the country.
The ad, titled "Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Blacks is a Bad Idea for Blacks—and Racist, Too" was written and paid for by conservative activist David Horowitz. In the ad, Horowitz states reasons why he opposes reparations for slavery in the U.S. Among his reasons are that not all African-Americans have suffered because of the legacy of slavery, that African-Americans owe a debt to whites who ended slavery and that welfare benefits and racial preferences constitute a form of reparations.
Reaction by some students, who regard the ad as racist or "hate speech," have resulted in the destruction of thousands of newspapers by students at Brown University, formal apologies for running the ad at University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Davis and Arizona State, and protests at Duke University, University of Wisconsin and several others. Many campus newspapers have simply refused to run the ad at all.
"The traditional role of universities is to be a marketplace of ideas, including ideas that certain students may not agree with or find offensive," said Joan Bertin, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. "While student protests are an appropriate way to explore controversy, when students take it upon themselves to suppress ideas that they find objectionable they fail to meet the challenge of a free society—to counter offensive ideas with more persuasive arguments of their own," added Bertin.
"Stealing newspapers is both a crime and an affront to free expression. The discussion here should be over the merits of the arguments made in this ad, not the conscientious effort by college editors to encourage debate on an important but controversial topic," noted Mark Goodman, Executive Director of the Student Press Law Center. "Suppression of any type of material—ads, plays, speeches—deemed offensive by individuals or groups will not and should not stifle uncomfortable ideas. As teachers and citizens we must defend free speech and the flow of ideas it engenders," stated Martin Snyder, Director of the Office of Academic Freedom for the American Association of University Professors.
For more information contact:
Joan Bertin, Executive Director
National Coalition Against Censorship
212/807-6222
Mark Goodman, Executive Director
Student Press Law Center
703/807-1904
www.splc.org
Martin Snyder, Director
Office of Academic Freedom
American Association of University Professors
202/737-5900
www.aaup.org
James D’Entremont, Spokesperson
The Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression
617/266-5827
www.ultranet.com/~kyp/bcfe.html
Chris Finan, President
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
212/587-4025
www.abffe.com
Judith Platt, Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Association of American Publishers
202/220-4551
www.publishers.org