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May I have a word?
In a country that values free speech, Americans often forget there are places where speaking one’s mind is a matter of paying attention to officials who mind those who speak.
The first amendment of the Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Word. But in other nations, the issue of free speech becomes a little more complicated.
In regards to the 2009 Iranian presidential election, which encompassed protests against alleged voter fraud, Iranian officials have hindered the dissent of protesters’ voices. According to a recent article in The New York Times, Iran’s universities, the hotbeds of political outcry during the election, are now facing government mandates to purge themselves of dissenters.
“This university must once again be purified,” said Ayatollah Muhammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, the president’s spiritual adviser, as reported by The Times. “This purification must occur at the management level and other levels. You see just how many who do not believe in religion, Islam and God have attended and graduated from this university.”
As a result, Iranian universities have started punishing dozens of students who engaged in the protests, The Times reported. Politically active students have been disciplined through both means of school suspension as well as arrest without official explanation.
That’s no way to foster diversity of thoughts and opinions. But then again, university students here in the United States have the opportunity to cultivate their young minds and passions, but do we fully take advantage of those rights? Do we speak up for what we believe?
I fondly recall walking to class the fall of my freshmen year while observing a small protest concerning the Reserves Officers’ Training Corps involvement on Marquette’s campus. The protesters objected to ROTC’s presence on a Catholic college campus, citing it as undermining values of peace and nonviolence.
I watched curiously as the protesters marched through campus with banners promoting nonviolence hoisted in the air. But not only did I notice the protesters, I also noticed reactions from student passersby that alluded to neither support nor opposition. Instead, many individuals laughed and poked fun at their statement.
It took courage for those protesters to stand up for their beliefs. It took courage for them to take advantage of a right we all have but rarely exercise. What would it take for more college students to stand on their soap boxes once in a while?
Meanwhile, in another academic setting in the distant country of China, students form their worldview based on a system of speech and information censorship.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, China’s constitution grants its citizens freedom of speech and press, however the document uses vague language that mandates Chinese citizens defend the security, honor and interests of their country.
China also boasts the world’s largest population of Internet users, a number estimated at 338 million in a study conducted by the China Internet Network Information Center in June. Additionally, college students prevail over China’s population as the most active Internet users. But despite the Internet’s growth in popularity, it still fails to run as a free information highway.
According to a study conducted by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, Chinese censors block Web sites such as ABC.com, Amnesty International USA and the Los Angeles Times.
Furthermore, the Associated Press reported that Chinese censors blocked YouTube this past March for unknown reasons as well as March 2008 during the Tibet riots.
Imagine Marquette’s wireless Internet service blocking information regarding world news. Imagine a world where one couldn’t complain about the government’s response to the economic crisis or plans for health care reform.
College students of the United States (ehem, Marquette University) unite! Students shouldn’t hesitate to let their voices be heard. Whether supporting or condoning fair trade, genetic engineering or homework, students need to say what they mean and mean what they say. Now that’s an amendment.
Tags: bill of rights, censorship, China, congress, constitution, dissent, election, fraud, free speech, freedom, Internet, iran, new york times, president, presidential, protests, rights, ROTC, vote
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