share.triangle.com - Freedom of speech is a right, so did the students do anything wrong? - Comments

Rumours and a place to set things straight

Java55 — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:32:13 -0500

This really bites the big kumara! Rumours spread across the internet need to be checked out first and this is the place to do it:

http://www.snopes.com/

Save this link.

Black people cannot be racists

In_A_Flash — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:39:27 -0500

(And before you go questioning my patriotism - I'm a disabled Vietnam-era vet and an American Legion member.) No one has called for the lynching of these four white guys. Expulsion, yes. Lynching, no. And if some black people are among those calling for their expulsion, they might indeed be bigots (spelled with one "g"). Look it up. But they cannot be racists. Racism is the abuse of power by the majority (in this country, white people) to the detriment of the minority (people of color - African Americans, Hispanics....). White people in America have never been lynched, enslaved or segregated because of their skin color.

You, sir, reveal yourself to be a racist by using phrases such as "Lard butt [B]arber." You would never have referred to a white minister that way - and you would have capitalized his last name. Rev. Barber is an eloquent, lifelong civil-rights activist who has made great strides towards bridging the gap between black people and white people, and he should be treated with respect.

"Kill whitey," in a rap song (even though nobody has used that particular phrase since the 60s), is way different than advocating the murder of the president-elect. The rap song is rhetorical; it's talking about white people in general. Let's switch it around, though, and say that four black guys were videotaped in the tunnel spray-painting death threats against you, by name. Would you be on here defending their rights to free speech? I don't think so.

P.S. Your whole rant about white players makes absolutely no sense. And "expel" has only one "l."

Anonymity is not new

In_A_Flash — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:34:59 -0500

That State is allowing these four young white men to remain anonymous is like giving them full Klan regalia - the robe, the cross and especially the hood. The University is sanctioning cowardice. If these students truly believe in what they wrote - which I believe they do, despite their apologies - then they should show their faces. To hell with expulsion. State should publish their names in the Technician.

Hypocrites

In_A_Flash — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:22:13 -0500

"What is different" is that it is in fact very possible to kill Obama - I was around when Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were shot - but it is not possible to kill all bigots, hypocrites and Republicans. And that's the whole point.

If those four kids had been videotaped spraying, "Let's shoot President Bush in the head," it's very simple. We would never have seen them again.

ncsu

marianne — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:11:56 -0500

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}

I think people need to put this in perspective.

There has been plenty of hate speech against Bush since his last election, including people expressing desires to "destroy" Bush in some way, - physically, socially, politically, etc. No one complained. In fact, the hate speech was encouraged. This is because hate speech against conservatives is "ok." I heard plenty of "kill him" from people I knew.

This incident occurred immediately after the Obama win. It would be normal to have an emotional reaction right after such a moment, if one's candidate lost, and one worked hard to help him. The students obviously have no capability to carry out such an empty threat.

Many people have a right to express loss, especially since Obama represents a death to many rights, and a security threat to this country, due to his own racial and political preferences.

What the students were subconsciously expressing was a fear that Obama represented the "killing" of them, not the other way around. I personally, feel less safe in this country, now that Obama has been elected. I expect terrorists and other violent groups to escalate in activity, and my own life may be in danger.

Racism is always wrong, but in this case, I do not think it is actually the students that felt racist against Obama. This sounds complex, but I think the student were internalizing their impression of Obama’s racism against whites, Christians, and Jews, and reversing the direction onto the wall, as a response to his anticipated future discrimination against whites, Christians, and Jews, in the future.

Soon, Obama promised to take away from the “rich white business man in the suburbs (who works for a living) and give his money to the inner city youth (whose parents, I guess do not work).” All students in this country have access to free public education. This is most likely how the “rich white businessman” got trained for his profession.

Obama and his pastor are openly racist. Maybe someone should censor their free expression too.

Free Expression Banned but- Racist NCSU Professors OK Though

mike27513 — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:27:48 -0500

Dr. Kamau Kambon told a Katrina panel at Howard University Law School on Oct. 14,2005 that the solution to many of the problems faced by black people is the extermination of “white people off the face of the planet.” Dr. Kambon, who taught African Studies from 2003-2005 at North Carolina State University, also said this needs to be done “because white people want to kill us.” Archive Video on CSPAN and YOU TUBE if you reference his name.
Interesting that on the Free Speech Tunnel it is not OK to be racist but as a NCSU Professor it is OK to be a racist.

Freedom of Speech is NOT absolute!

KWCorona — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:11:35 -0500

The First Amendment guarantees free speech, press and religion, but these freedoms are not absolute. The Aztecs believed in religious sacrifice of human beings...but you couldn't get away with that now. The Press is still subject to punishment under slander/libel. In speech, you can't publically advocate murder in such a way with impunity. I don't think it matters if you come out against Obama, some nutty Klan leader or any average Joe or Jill. Anyone who publically advocates violence against another infringes on that person's right to life & liberty just as much as yelling fire in a crowded room...if not moreso.

Liberals and Conservatives alike need to read the Constitution a little more closely and stop treating catch phrases as law without understanding the meaning behind the words. The First Amendment is about restricting the reach of government. It is NOT however a blank check for any and all sorts of murder and mayhem. The Klan references are protected speech. The rest of the garbage they wrote is criminal, and I hope they are prosecuted for it.

Get Over It !!!!!!!!

vraptor — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:28:10 -0500

The racist and biggots are the people calling for the lynching and expulsion of these students who committed no crimes........ So you want to take the law into your own hands??? Mob rule??? Do the students need to carry guns on campus to protect themselves from these nazi's??? Lard butt barber is setting race relastions back decades. Rich white people donate money to the campuses so they can grow. Do you want this money to dry up??? How about the white boy rule??? There must be a white basketball player on the court at all times. I think all sports scholarships need to be weighted against the demographics. Shoudl we expell any person on camups who listens to rap music with horrific lyrics??? Kill whitie??? How about the use of the n word by blacks? Should we expell these people????

Full Disclosure for Tunnel Painters

SeaShark — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:03:12 -0500

The four witless morons who created the racist tunnel painting have apologized through a statement issued by NCSU. The immature idiots may or may not be sincere, but their refusal to publicly identify themselves suggests that they realize that their stupidity will embarrass their families and may make them unemployable if their names are revealed. Get some therapy in addition to the diversity training.

Limitations

Java55 — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:18:57 -0500

What to do about idiots?

rights?

peasandlove — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:39:35 -0500

If we were to punish those students, we would have to punish everyone who wrote inside of the tunnel. Freedom of speech is freedom of speech regardless of what is said or written. We have that freedom and it shouldn't be stripped because someone got offended by the message. Granted, the message may have been ignorant, but if we were to punish those students, we would have to punish everyone for everything that was said or written that was considered offensive. That tunnel is a work of art. It's a place where people feel safe in expressing their beliefs. There are silly things, rude, crude, violent things. If you don't like what is written, get a can and spray over it with something you feel is more positive. Express yourself, but don't deny that right to someone else if you're going to exercise it.

It's a free speech tunnel. Respect the rights of others in order to maintain your own. Be grateful that you are legally able to express yourself no matter the belief. If the students are punished, it sets a precedent that speech isn't really free. Do we want that?

Show Your Face Students

OHair — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:46:20 -0500

To the students who expressed their American right to freedom of speech, be man and/or woman enough to show your face. The punishment to NCSU and the state of NC is being perceived as backward, ignorant southerns to the world. We do not need this negative attention especially in this time of economic woes. Hate mongers, identify yourselves.

Freedom of Speech

sealedon3rd — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:23:26 -0500

Yes the students were wrong for writing what they did and should be punished somehow but not with expulsion. When people start defining what is free speech, the right ends up being taken from us.

Any kind of racism is wrong! During this election I saw lots of racism. Was Obama elected because your morals and beliefs aligned with his. Let history show, white people helped elect the first black president. How can people still call white people racist after this?

Realizing that this is not the issue, I hope you all can live with Obama's principles and lack of morals for which he stands especially for innocent unborn children. The people I asked couldn't tell me why they were voting for Obama, they couldn't tell me one thing he stood for and were quite shocked when I went down my list of the issues. So why did they vote for him? I hope you all will be equally as happy in 4 years with your choices.

For the record, I didn't like McCain either but at least he had a resume.

Thank you

mwilliam — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:05:41 -0500

Thanks for making this comparison. Any kind of racism is wrong, not just white on black or white on Hispanic. I think the reason these always get the most attention is because of the history of our country. The problem is, I think, is that when a group is the majority the rules are different. I'm not saying that is cool, but I think that’s how it is. I do think in these cases, though, we pull the "what if it were reversed" card too much. That's something we should address, but not until we address the current issue.

And you're right; no one is better than anyone else. But I think when people do stuff like this they give off that impression.

I agree that you should

mwilliam — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:53:23 -0500

I agree that you should voice your opinion but a person has to think is that opinion worth the trouble it could get you into. Being insulted is one thing, but if you get threatened that is another. These kids who are worried about wearing pens didn't get threatened to my knowledge so they, in my opinion, should wear their pins proudly.

Freedom of speech is a right, so did the students do anything wrong?

mwilliam — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:22:08 -0500

State leaders of the NAACP presented N.C. State University Chancellor James L. Oblinger with a list of demands during a closed-door meeting Wednesday about racist and threatening slogans painted in the campus free expression tunnel after the presidential election last week.

NAACP officials revealed that the words painted on the tunnel were more explicit than a university spokesman indicated last week. They showed a photo of one part of the graffiti that read "Let's shoot that n______ in the head," and said there also was the slogan "Hang Obama by a Noose" and references to the Ku Klux Klan.

State leaders of the NAACP presented N.C. State University Chancellor James L. Oblinger with a list of demands during a closed-door meeting Wednesday about racist…