Censorship and shaming veterans needs to end

By Justin Evans

The Maneater reserves the right to edit letters and columns for style and length.

If movies like American Sniper can make a student feel threatened, then we have a problem. We have many veterans on campus. I am one, and I have many friends here at the law school that are veterans as well. Some of those veterans did jobs that were very similar to that of Chris Kyle personal friends of mine. Films like American Sniper are a good thing for those veterans, not because they tell a heroic story, but because they tell a more nuanced story than the John Wayne flicks of yesteryear. American Sniper isnt glamorizing war or colonialism. Its telling the real life story of someone who suffered a great deal because of the political decisions of this country, good or bad. "I feel unsafe" or "threatened" has become a weapon to use when someone with a bone to pick wants to get their way. Whether or not this student likes the wars in the Middle East (obviously she'd be in agreement with plenty of non-Muslims and even veterans in that regard), it's odd to me that we have such a problem with people giving an account of what a person actually went through in a conflict. As if this movie is contributing to something that isn't an immediate political reality anyway. Does the presence of our veterans on campus offend this student or make her feel threatened? Should those students be allowed to speak with pride about their service for fear that it would make a student feel threatened? It seems to me that the real problem here that this student simply doesn't like how positively Americans respond to stories like that of Chris Kyle. And if the presence of this movie on campus is somehow a threat to her, how does she ever make it anywhere outside of the confines of the University? It was a fairly big hit at the box office, after all.

Were living in a time when academics will write letters in support of taking down the U.S. flag at a federally funded university. Why? Because of colonialism, and because of shameful moments in American history. Many of the same excuses are used by this student. But despite moments in American history that are terribly shameful, are we really saying that we have to pack it in? Dismantle our pride in America as a nation? Take down the flags, get rid of the monuments, and tell our veterans that we are afraid of them for the jobs they did? Take a step back and think its okay to be proud of a flawed institution. Its okay to be proud of Chris Kyle as a veteran, while realizing that he was as flawed as any other human being.

Finally, and perhaps most sadly, this student has chosen to lecture the entire University on the boundaries of the First Amendment while attempting to censor a point of view that she simply doesn't like. What she's really saying is that the First Amendment only extends to points of view that everyone agrees are comfortable. Sorry, but I'm thinking she may not understand that the point of the First Amendment was to protect unpopular opinions and speech. Personally, I'm not in the business of avoiding truths because I don't agree with them, nor do I reshape reality and what other people can do or say to fit my "comfort zone."

What's funny to me is that students actually considered not showing the film. Whatever your political sensibilities, it should give you pause that "cultural inclusiveness" and "tolerance" are being used more and more as a mask for blatant attempts at silencing and censoring points of view that we disagree with. And that needs to stop. We should all be willing to let one another voice their opinions, no matter if we agree with them and no matter how politically popular they are. Thats a right that our veterans understand, and Ms. El-Jayyousi should too.

Respectfully,

Justin Evans, jme337@mail.missouri.edu

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Censorship and shaming veterans needs to end