Posted on 03/13/2015 12:32:29 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Earlier today I noted that the American Civil Liberties Union—ostensibly a pro-First Amendment organiztion—had articulated a baffling position on the University of Oklahoma's expulsion of two students for racist behavior: namely, that said actions were the right ones.
But the ACLU has walked back its earlier comments, and now recognizes that OU can't abridge its students' free speech rights, offensive though their conduct may be. "It is difficult to imagine a situation in which a court would side with the university on this matter," writes the ACLU:
As a state-run institution of higher education, the University of Oklahoma must also respect First Amendment principles that are central to the mission of every university. Any sanction imposed on students for their speech must therefore be consistent with the First Amendment and not merely a punishment for vile and reprehensible speech; courts have consistently and rightly ruled as such. Absent information that is not at our disposal, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which a court would side with the university on this matter. We are closely monitoring the situation and will appropriately respond to new details as they emerge. In the meantime, we stand in solid support of the brave and thoughtful students whose public dialogue on race and the rights of all minority students in response to the incident have embodied the spirit of the First Amendment.
I'm glad the organization is articulating a clearly pro-speech position on the expulsions. There is nothing contradictory about condemning the students for terribly racist statements while still defending their absolute right to express such sentiments.
It’s too late to right the wrong for these expelled students. They would physically be in danger on that campus, because it has become popular to pile on the hatred for them, thus absolving the haters of their own racist biases (so they want to believe).
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs . . .
Very true. In the eyes of liberals, being white and using the N word is a cardinal sin, punishable by whatever they see fit.
And these students chanting their hatred are morons, but they sure as h#ll shouldn’t be kicked out of school.
"The guarantees of freedom of speech in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall not be construed to apply to persons not of African descent who utter or write the N-word."
The media must be loving this--they are always eager to find proof that all white people are secretly Ku Klux Klan members (other than gentry liberals like themselves). See, for example, the rush to label George Zimmerman "white." There has been much more reaction to this story than to the beheadings of Copts in Libya by ISIS or the massacres in Nigeria by Boko Haram. Those other events don't advance the narrative.
They've appeased no one, they satisfied no one, their precious sports teams will still suffer with some recruits, those interested in joining a frat or sorority might decide to go elsewhere, and they'll be the object of protests and outrage as the court cases pile up.
Have I missed anything?
I don’t know any of the students involved, but my guess is that their conduct was not motivated by racism but rather was merely adolescent rebelliousness against authority, in this case politically correct pieties, by being as outrageous as possible. They had no expectation that any black people would ever know about this, and the cook at their fraternity house was black and apparently was treated well.
It’s the old “Blood in the Water” theory, about to be writ large. Ask the Mayor of Ferguson how it goes when you appease a souless creature with an insatiable appetite for other people’s power.
OU and their president are about to find out the price of ‘Free Speech’....................
It’s usually just kids being outrageous rather than overt racism. Would he allow a black member into SAE? Hard to tell.
How did the video get leaked out to the world at large?? I figure it was made for private viewing...preferably after a few beers
Its open season on drunken frat boys because they are seen as pale, male and stale. And their rich daddies are even more stale. Just joking but this is the perception spread in stupid Hollyweird movies etc
All this is part of the general dumping on white guys. Just look at what TV commercials do. Just look at ol Bill Clinton who was defeated by Obama in 2008. Bill ran Hillary’s campaign
Probably some of the SAE members who were evicted from their residence on 24 hours' notice were not even present when the song was being sung.
Thanks!!!
It’s highly unlikely that the University will say that the students were expelled for what they said. There are several circumstances under which the university leaders are empowered to take direct action against a student. So the University will say the students were expelled because it was necessary “for the welfare and safety of the University community” or because they had to “stop or prevent interference in any manner with the public or private rights of others” or something like that. The speech was the catalyst but the University will not say it was the reason for expulsion.
Perhaps they’ll invoke the commerce clause.
Anybody who has an expectation of privacy in this day of cell phones is an idiot. Especially when pulling stunts like these guys did.
By someone who wanted to rack up several hundred thousand hits on You Tube.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.