Campus Speech Regulations
...us to do so much, a right that we all hold dear, freedom of speech. However, freedom of speech has become a very controversial issue. With America’s population and racial diversity steadily rising, it’s not uncommon for minority groups all over to experience hate speech in some way or form. What should and should not be protected under the first amendment? Should the right to freedom of speech allow anyone and everyone to fully express themselves even if they only want to express hate? Where do we ultimately draw the line between free speech and hate speech? Those are the questions that are being asked by school administrators where campus hate speech has brought attention. Understanding three campus incidents where hate speech has been an issue in the past might help shine some light which side we should pick.
One incident at the University of Pennsylvania occurred between a Jewish male and a group of African American sorority girls late one night. Eighteen-year-old freshman Mr. Jacobowitz, was trying to write an English paper around midnight when he looked outside of his sixth floor high rise dorm room and saw about a dozen black sorority women making loud noises and causing a disturbance outside. After hearing the noise for about 20 minutes, Jacobowitz decided to shout out the window “Shut up you water buffalo!” This incident grabbed so much attention from the group of girls whom it was directed to because it was immediately taken as a racist remark. Mr. Joacobwitz also added by asking “if you’re looking for a party, there’s a zoo a mile from here.” The groups of girls were furious by Joacobwitz remarks of them, commenting on their skin color and calling them animals. In his defense, he argued that “water buffalo” is a direct translation from a Hebrew word used to scold others and was mistakenly...
View Full Essay
