Building a Culture of Free Speech: Exercising Our Basic Rights

The first amendment is the fundamental building block to freedom in the United States; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The line “freedom of speech” is something that I believe to be often overlooked in America today. We have the right and ability to voice our opinions to a degree uncontrollable by the government. Yet, there still exists great tension between that of the people and the institutions that govern them. 

Working to protect speech for every individual and consciously acting with those rights in mind is what gives people the motivation to speak up in the first place. 

A cultural shift towards actively acknowledging and prioritizing free speech for all would lead to a greater overall volume and acceptance of speech. We live in a particularly divisive time with new controversies springing up left and right. It’s becoming increasingly important to recognize that people have the right to say things that you don’t necessarily agree with, but what is equally important is how you navigate these conversations. 

Not to say that every time you speak you must be willing to concede your beliefs and completely reorient yourself, but to go into tough conversations with humility and a benevolent mindset will create a culture that is more accepting of opposing ideas.

I had the honor to sit with a panel of student leaders and to speak with former American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) president Nadine Strossen about free speech on college campuses. 

The event opened with a short documentary, narrated by Strossen, about the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s at the University of California, Berkeley. In the documentary, Strossen said, “Perhaps the [free speech movement] was so successful because the principles of the movement were truly American principles.”

This notion of free speech as a “truly American principle” intrigued me. I asked Strossen how that can be when it seems like free speech is so at odds with institutional power. 

Her response led to an eye-opening discussion that I believe gets at the root of most of our issues with free speech today. “My colleagues who are human rights activists in other countries around the world, especially aggressive and authoritarian countries, tell me they’re amazed that progressive activists in the United States seem to not have the same high regard for free speech that they do,” Strossen said. “They’ve posited that perhaps it is that we take it for granted. Maybe even subconsciously we know it’s going to be there to bail us out.”

Free speech is not something we can take for granted because the second we collectively do, those in power who seek to suppress that fundamental right will do so. We’ve recently seen it happen to pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong who were arrested for trying to air their grievances about the Chinese Communist Party. A right to free speech did not exist to bail these activists out, leaving them imprisoned for their speech.

One audience member brought up an observation that no one on campus wants to address the encampment that was put up last spring and was raided by police and dismantled the following day on May 2. I agree with this student; we have seen a chilling of speech surrounding the events of early May. Strangely not due to any institutional threat, but simply because people see it as taboo.

I will concede that a person has just as much of a right to not speak as they do to express speech, but I do think that in order to be truly forward-looking, one must give time and credit to the past. 

Whether the policies and procedures put in place by SUNY New Paltz gave them the ability to dismantle the encampment or not, the question that needs to be asked is: was their decision the correct one? It is my hope that if the university was faced with a situation like May 2 again, that they would be steered in the direction that would wholly respect all notions of free speech and peaceful assembly that our first amendment guarantees.

I would ask that every individual fervently exercise their right to free speech, humility and as Strossen put it, “generosity.” We need to speak to one another with the knowledge that fundamental differences of opinion exist and that should not inhibit anyone’s ability to speak freely. Disagreements are inherent with free speech and it is those disagreements that reinforce its importance. 

If we truly want to create a culture that holds the right of free speech as a core value, we need aggressive change to be made both individually and institutionally. We as a society need to be more open and accepting of speech, even if we see it as controversial. Institutions also need to hold that same regard when drafting its speech policies.

SUNY New Paltz specifically needs a more straightforward and comprehensive free speech policy. As it stands right now, if someone wanted to know of all of SUNY New Paltz’s policies regarding speech, they would need to open a total of 11 different pages online, some of those webpages being documents that are upwards of 50 pages long.

Until then, it is unfortunately our job as students and members of civil society to familiarize ourselves with these policies, as arduous as they seem, so that we can know and protect our rights. I sincerely doubt that a significant number of our over 7,000 students have read all of our free speech policies in their entirety, and I’m not asking for every person who reads this to do so. I will ask, however, that everyone at least familiarize yourself to the best of your ability so that we can take the first step towards creating a culture of free speech.