Free speech or hate speech?

AMHERST, Mass.--Not one but two rallies for free speech took place on campus of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass) on April 1. One rally was organized by a coterie of reactionary campus clubs, with the College Democrats as its left cover: the College Republicans, Student Alliance for Israel and the Silent Majority. This event attempted to use defense of "free speech" as a fig leaf for its real agenda: making hate speech acceptable on campus.

The Silent Majority (also known as the alter ego of the College Republicans) is the publisher of the bigoted newspaper The Minuteman. The release of the newest edition of this paper coincided with their ill-named rally for "free speech."

Ironically, on the very same day, along with a number of racist, sexist and homophobic articles, The Minuteman printed an editorial lamenting the refusal of the UMass police department to arrest protesters at a recent College Republican event.

These claims are ridiculous on their face. If there are conflicting sides claiming to stand for free speech, it is obvious which side is sincere: it is the side not calling for cops to arrest students!

The Republicans and their hangers-on have a bizarre conception of free speech, wherein they get to make as many bigoted statements as they wish (some of which are designed specifically to hurt individual activists on campus) without facing repercussions or challenges of any kind.

No one in the Coalition Against Hate is calling on the state to censor the Republicans, the essence of a First Amendment violation. But activists are asserting their right to confront the Republicans' bigotry wherever it rears its ugly head, which is indeed a hallmark of the right to free speech.

On April 1, the UMass Coalition Against Hate did precisely that. Rather than call for the Republicans' event to be shut down, the coalition mobilized roughly 40 activists (about twice as many as attended the Republican event) to stand for free speech but also against hate.

The right-wing free speech rally was held as scheduled, most of which consisted of whining by right-wing activists about being protested. "When people heckle us, it makes us look foolish," complained one Republican speaker, to which one protester retorted, "It's not hard!"

At the conclusion of the first speak-out, members of the anti-hate coalition went to the podium to request the microphone in the spirit of free speech.

Unsurprisingly, the right-wing pseudo-advocates of free speech refused to allow anyone who disagreed with them to speak at their ostensibly pluralistic event. Therefore, Coalition Against Hate members moved quickly to get their own microphone to hold a genuine free speech speakout, where disagreements were tolerated and hypocrisy was not.

Speakers addressed the climate of hate being created by the Republicans and the need for a continued activist response to change this climate. The best way to guarantee both the right to free speech and a safe and inclusive campus for all is to mobilize ordinary people to insist on these demands.