Category Archives: Free Speech

Ed Miliband #39;s Thoughts on a Cannabis Policy (UK Elections 2015)
Ed Miliband faces an audience of over 100 voters aged 16 to 34 for an unscripted hour of tough and uncensored questions. This is an extract of the BBC Three programme, Free Speech (Series...

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Ed Miliband's Thoughts on a Cannabis Policy (UK Elections 2015) - Video

Pope Francis #39;s and Bill Donahue #39;s Attack on Free Speech -- Blatt, Rothman, The World We Kn
Head here to subscribe to Domislive2! Pope Francis victim-blames by saying a violent response . After the Charlie Hebdo attack, Pope Francis says, In freedom...

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Pope Francis's and Bill Donahue's Attack on Free Speech -- Blatt, Rothman, The World We Kn - Video

free speech and question of hate speech proverbs 20 verse 23
Shalum to the saints of THE MOST HIGH YAHUAH!!! Daniel 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be g...

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free speech and question of hate speech proverbs 20 verse 23 - Video

Americans tend to pick and choose who should be afforded civil liberties to some degree, acenturies-old issue that has flared up once again after a video ofracist chants byUniversity of Oklahoma fraternity brothers went viral. The university's president David Boren last weekexpelled two studentsfilmed making the racist chants.

The popularity of Boren's actions may be hard to nail down (more on that later), butone fascinating trend in public opinion has been quite clear.Americans have becomemore supportiveof free speech for a variety of controversial groups in recent decades, but thisgrowing acceptancehas not extended toracists.This finding comes from thelong-running General Social Survey of U.S. adults.Last year the surveyfound 60 percent saying a "person who believes blacks are genetically inferior" should be allowed to make a speech in their community, similarto the share who said so in 1976 (62 percent).

That absolute number might be surprising - a clear majority are okaywith a racist speaking out - but they also contrastwithlarger and growing shares of the public who supportallowing speech from othercontroversialgroups. Some 70 percent support allowing a speech from aperson who wants the military to run the country (70 percent), a communist (68 percent), and an anti-religionist (79 percent).The only group where people expressed less support for free speech than racists was "a Muslim clergyman who preaches hatred of the United States" -only 42 percent said this should be allowed. These trends were documented by Tom Smith and Jaesok Son of NORC at the University of Chicago in 2013.

Changing politics as well asattitudes toward sexuality and religion help explain how free speech forsome groups has become more tolerable while support for racists have stayed lower.The Cold war is over,fewer people identify with a religious faith than in the 1970s andacceptance ofhomosexuality has grown rapidly.The stagnation of tolerance for racist speech while support for speech among other groups has grown -- could indicate that the public is not purely becoming more tolerant of the rights of groups they dislike. Instead, the shifts could reflect greater public agreement with the ideas of gay and lesbian people and those who are less religious.

Reactions to the Oklahoma case could be toughto gauge if past surveys are any guide, perhaps due to the difficulty in balancingbetween support forfree speech in general and a desire to quashracism generally.Two national surveysin 1989 and 1991 found aboutsix in 10 saying college students who use racial slurs or published racist magazines should not be expelled. But a similarly large majority in a 1992 survey by Family Circle favored probation for aBrown University student who yelled racial slurs while drunk. More recently, a 2008survey by the First Amendment Center found 54percent disagreeing with the idea thatpeople should be allowed to say things in public that might be offensive to racial groups.

Peyton M. Craighill contributed to this report.

Surveydetails

The General Social Survey was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago usingin-person interviews with a random national sample of 2,538 adults from March31 to Oct.13, 2014. Results on attitudes toward racists are based on 1,711 interviews and have a margin of sampling error of three percentage points.Data analysis was conducted by The Washington Post.

Question wording

There are always some people whose ideas are considered bad or dangerous by other people. If [INSERT]wanted to make a speech in your community [INSERT],should he be allowed to speak, or not? Answers: Yes, allowed/Not allowed/Don't know/Refused

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Wonkblog: Americans growing support for free speech doesnt include racist speech

As the nation's headlines turn more and more to issues of tolerance -- race, religion, free speech, same sex marriage -- research by San Diego State University Psychology Professor Jean M. Twenge shows that Americans may be more tolerant than ever before.

In a paper released this month by the journal Social Forces, Twenge, along with Nathan T. Carter and Keith Campbell from the University of Georgia, found that Americans are now more likely to believe that people with different views and lifestyles can and should have the same rights as others, such as giving a speech or teaching at a college.

"When old social rules disappear, people have more freedom to live their lives as they want to, and Americans are increasingly tolerant of those choices," said Twenge, who is also the author of "Generation Me."

"This goes beyond well-known trends such as the increasing support for gay marriage. People are increasingly saying that it's OK for those who are different to fully participate in the community and influence everyone else."

Tolerance for different views

The researchers used data from the General Social Survey, a nationally representative survey of adult Americans conducted from 1972 to 2012. The survey includes a series of questions related to tolerance of people with controversial views or lifestyles including homosexuals, atheists, militarists, communists and racists.

Only tolerance for racists has decreased over time, showing people today are less tolerant of the intolerant.

So why have recent incidents of racism on college campuses garnered so much attention? "A few decades ago, racism would barely have been noticed -- it might have even been rewarded," Twenge said. "Now it's noticed, and the consequences can be swift. It shows how much things have changed."

Tolerance by generations

The study showed that the biggest generational shift in tolerance was between the Silent generation and the Baby Boomers who followed them. Generation X and Millennials continued the trend toward tolerance.

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A more tolerant America?

A quick introduction to the Green Party - Free Speech: Series 4 Episode 2 - BBC Three
http://www.bbc.co.uk/freespeech Do you know who to vote for? Can you tell the difference between the parties? Here #39;s our effort to introduce the Green Party ...

By: BBC Three

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A quick introduction to the Green Party - Free Speech: Series 4 Episode 2 - BBC Three - Video

A quick introduction to the SNP - Free Speech: Series 4 Episode 2 - BBC Three
http://www.bbc.co.uk/freespeech Do you know who to vote for? Can you tell the difference between the parties? Here #39;s our effort to introduce the SNP in under a minute.

By: BBC Three

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A quick introduction to the SNP - Free Speech: Series 4 Episode 2 - BBC Three - Video

Free speech display on Pentacrest draws attention

BY BILL COONEY | FEBRUARY 27, 2015 5:00 AM

Young Americans on the University of Iowa campus are hoping to get students fired up about Young Americans for Liberty.

Holding a demonstration on the Pentacrest Thursday was one way they hope to encourage participation in both the group and the organizations state convention on March 7.

Part of Thursdays demonstration included a free speech wall on which passerbys could write on boards as a demonstration of free speech.

Students can come and write whatever they want on the wall, no matter what it is, Young Americans for Liberty Iowa Chairman Matthew Evans said. Were not here to censor anyone; as long as what is written does not incite any kind of violence, you can write it down.

Messages written on the wall ranged from anti-police slogans to commentary on the quality of professional football being played in Chicago.

Another part of the demonstration was to protest limited free-speech zones on college campuses, Ellen Reynolds said.

Its ridiculous; one in six colleges have these free-speech zones, and its ridiculous, she said.

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Free speech display on Pentacrest draws attention

Free Speech Productions - Lest We Forget - Made in the USA
This film is about American made atrocities. Come on Mr and Ms John Q Public! Shake off the chains of fear that bind you, take a breath and open your eyes, maybe even listen a little. You are...

By: deceptionsUSA

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Free Speech Productions - Lest We Forget - Made in the USA - Video

USATODAY 8:41 a.m. EDT March 13, 2015

Video of SAE members singing racist chant.(Photo: Unheard Movement via YouTube)

David French,National Review: "This week, several University of Oklahoma frat boys were caught on tape singing a vile, racist song. ... And private citizens countered with expression of their own doing what the marketplace of ideas does best, countering bad speech with better speech. Then, the government got involved. OU President David Boren has expelled two students allegedly responsible for the chant. I hope these students find the courage to sue ... because the First Amendment needs a defense. They said terrible things, but they did not violate the law."

Jim Mitchell,The Dallas Morning News: "These students deserved hefty punishment and they received it, unlike previous generations of Sigma Alpha Epsilon students who apparently learned the same vile song in an age without social media. ... The average black person's friend network is 8% white, but the average white person's network is only 1% black. ... It is time to ... admit America still has a problem."

Ingrid Vasquez,Fox News Latino: "You can't punish someone for committing a crime of bigotry. But you can certainly try to show them why that mentality is questionable. By the time most head off to college, they are 18-years-old and are capable of forming their own ideas about the world. It is not a situation where parents are to blame. ... It doesn't matter if you wear Greek letters, or if your skin is black or white. We all have the power to make our voice heard."

USA TODAY

Oklahoma-style hate is everywhere: Column

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Eugene Volokh, The Washington Post: "(There is) no First Amendment exception for supposed 'hate speech.' But if there is such an exception, there certainly is no First Amendment foundation for distinguishing speech that is ... anti-black from speech that is anti-white, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Catholic, anti-women, or anti-men. If the University of Oklahoma president's position is accepted as legally sound, then there'd be no legal basis for protecting the other kinds of speech while expelling students for (anti-black) sort of speech."

The Oklahoma (OU) Daily,editorial: " 'Real Sooners' aren't racists or bigots. However, taking a peek at (social media) shows racist thoughts and comments are much more prevalent among OU students than we'd like. ... The veil of 'tradition' the fraternity members on that bus hid behind made them think their hate speech was acceptable. (The conversation) isn't over because SAE got kicked off campus."

Continued here:
Free speech at odds with ending racism: Opinionline