Mount Royal's Trump hat kerfuffle begs the question: Where does it all end?
By
Rick Bell, Calgary Sun
First posted: Thursday, September 15, 2016 11:06 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, September 16, 2016 11:09 AM EDT
The lovers of freedom get a wake-up call Thursday.
A
video surfaces.
A young man wears a Make America Great Again hat at Mount Royal University.
Of course, this is the campaign slogan of Donald Trump, who now has a fighting chance of becoming the president of the United States of America.
It is a campaign slogan. This is a democracy. You have the right to express support for Mr. Trump and you can even be loud and proud about it.
But a young woman tells the young man he has to take the hat off. She says it's hate language.
Under questioning she explains Make America Great Again means it's all for white people, no immigrants, no people of a different sexual orientation.
Later, in a statement, she says the hat could make some people feel unsafe.
What is most gut churning is when she keeps insisting the young man has to take the hat off and has the confidence to say if he doesn't ditch the hat the university president will talk to him because she's talked to the president.
She says the hat wearer can deal with her or the university president.
"It's so going to happen," she concludes. Someone takes away the hat from the guy.
So much for freedom.
Where do these ideas come from?
The video is but a slice of rude reality, a small indication of attacks on free speech.
Whatever side throws down the gauntlet, they are assaults on our liberty.
Let us not forget you are supposed to be allowed to say what you want.
Even people with views thought crazy or outdated or nasty by others, shunned by the vast majority, are supposed to be allowed to say what they want.
And, for heaven's sakes, especially at a university where the free exchange of ideas is supposed to find its greatest defence, where civilization is the home team.
Sadly, that is not always the case.
There are university students and university faculty members who want to create a safe space away from ideas they find might hurt someone's feelings or they find loathsome or they don't want to have to discuss.
Sometimes, they try to shut down speakers from coming to campus and sometimes they succeed.
Sometimes it's all about creating an atmosphere where if certain views or certain writings are brought up they are shouted down without debate and the only basic freedom becomes the freedom to be outraged by somebody else's expression of freedom.
In the name of tolerance there is intolerance.
In the name of respect there is disrespect.
In the name of safe spaces there are unsafe spaces for those who dare to oppose.
And true hateful speech is not distinguished from speech some people just happen to hate.
Yes, there are individuals who want to be coddled and protected and not exposed to the true diversity of views you find out on the street.
They expect to fly the flag of sensitivity in the face of any opposition to what their particular crowd believes.
Duane Bratt is a professor at Mount Royal University who does speak out and good on him.
He'e embarrassed by what he sees on the video because what is happening on other campuses is now in his own backyard.
"University life is all about the expression of ideas and the conflict of ideas and the engagement of ideas. It's about comfortable ideas and uncomfortable ideas."
What do we do? Tell the dude with the Che Guevara T-shirt to take it off.
Where does it end? Where does Big Brother and Big Sister begin and the rights of the individual end?
Oh, to recall my own university days 40 years ago where, thankfully, we philosophy students could head to our department's lounge known as the playroom.
There we could bounce our ideas off each other and then adjourn to a nearby Chinese restaurant where we would carry on our discussion well into the night, the chinwag cooled by a beverage or two.
On Thursday, Mount Royal University issues a statement saying they respect freedom of expression.
Maybe it's time once again to explain the meaning of the word freedom.
Until then, I'll wear whatever damn hat I want.
rbell@postmedia.com
Mount Royal's Trump hat kerfuffle begs the question: Where does it all end? | Co
Make America Hate Again: Calgary student bombarded with U.S. threats
MICHELE JARVIE
First posted: Friday, September 16, 2016 05:00 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, September 16, 2016 07:36 PM EDT
A young woman who argued that a slogan on a fellow student's hat might make others feel unsafe is now reeling after receiving hate messages and deaths threats.
Zoe Slusar said hundreds of people have been calling her parents' home as early as 5 a.m., leaving hateful messages. Others, including many Americans, messaged her directly through Facebook.
"It's hugely directly derogatory. I've been told to kill myself. One said they hoped I'm raped by all the (black people) I'm helping and they'll come to the hospital after to suffocate me."
Slusar
was videotaped on Wednesday at Mount Royal University asking a fellow student to remove his hat which stated 'Make America Great Again' — a slogan from Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Slusar said she believes the baseball cap infringes on others right to feel safe as it supports a movement based on racism, bigotry and exclusion of diversity. The student refused to take it off, insisting he was in a public place and has the right to freedom of expression.
Bell: Make universities great again
After the video went viral, Slusar said she was inundated with hateful Facebook messages and phone calls. She said MRU officials have been supportive and she's talked with campus security.
"It's been pretty hard. I just went to class today and came straight home. I don't feel safe at all."
Ironically, she says that's what spurred her to act in the first place.
"I just want people to see the bigger issue here. It's about oppression and power and what it means to make people feel safe. But this ..." she quietly broke off.
"This is a totally different world."
The university itself also received a threat related to the controversy.
Calgary police spokesperson Emma Poole confirmed someone called MRU and left an anonymous message.
“They were using threatening language and the threats were in general to the whole student body, not her in particular. But it did reference this controversy and the hat.”
Calgary Police met with university officials today in relation to that.
As for the confrontation over the hat, Mount Royal University officials aren't wading into the fray.
"Both of these students are free to express their political opinions on campus, and university administrators will not interfere in their right to do so," MRU president David Docherty said in an emailed statement.
He noted that post-secondary institutions are exactly the kind of place where debate over different points of view should occur.
"I have seen the video and want to emphasize that I believe, both as an individual and as the President of Mount Royal University, freedom of speech is fundamental to post-secondary institutions and to society as a whole," said Docherty.
"Students can express differing opinions in a respectful way to increase understanding of each other's views. Universities play a critical role in society as places where students and other groups can share and listen to different perspectives in a respectful and peaceful way. We will continue to protect this freedom of expression."
Make America Hate Again: Calgary student bombarded with U.S. threats | Calgary |
