It's been a rough couple of weeks for diversity in the Lumberjack Opinion pages. Travis Turner's (2/24) paternalistic blast of Kink organizers and Kaitlin Skeels' (3/3) declaration that politically correct speech is "unacceptable" and worthless did not meet expected standards for a university newspaper. Opinion columnists are not excused from educating themselves on a topic, and the quality of your newspaper would be improved if columnists examined their opinions before typing them up.
Turner and Skeels cited First Amendment free speech rights as justification for instructing various minority groups on proper conduct. Skeels even insisted that groups stick with names that have been chosen for them rather than those they have chosen for themselves. Turner and Skeels advise these groups that this will improve members' situations and explain that free speech rights are in jeopardy if group members continue in their present course of self-determination.
The beauty of the First Amendment is that those who are not members of the predominant group and who are not privileged have had some success accessing these rights (though the struggle continues). Rather than rant about being forbidden to photograph a workshop on Kink (especially odd since Ruby Johnstone's informative article on Kink, in the same issue as Turner's column, contains two photographs) or bemoaning the inconvenience of social constraints on the use of the term "retarded" to describe a human being, opinion columnists should set aside privilege and listen to what members of diverse groups say about their experiences in the U.S. under the First Amendment. We should all listen. That is how to honor free speech.
-Roxanne Ritter, BSW
HSU Alumnus
* Editor's note: Roxanne Ritter is the mother of a Lumberjack staff member.
Be the first to comment on this article!