Ever since a young freshman from Long Island, one Eden Jacobowitz, leaned out of his window and insulted a group of black female students, the issue of free speech and political correctness has exploded on our campus. The defenders of free speech emerged as knights in shining armor, coming to Eden's defense and attacking all those who tried to legislate or control racist or offensive words. On one side, you had Professor Alan Kors, arguing for free speech. Kors is an ultra-charismatic History professor who wears funky hats and has an endearing Jersey City accent. He also happens to be one of the foremost Intellectual History scholars in the world. He was the "cool" teacher who wasn't afraid to stand up to the administration. On the other side, you had then President Sheldon Hackney. Hackney was perceived as the epitome of wishy-washy politicking -- a spineless shell of a man, terrorized byEthe idea that he might offend some minority or special interest group. This perception wasn't helped by the fact that he was about to be nominated as chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities by his politically correct buddy, Bill Clinton. Meanwhile, political correctness became everybody's favorite whipping boy. Being perceived as politically correct soon became tantamount to acquiring leprosy. The P.C. crowd was after that most sacred of American principles, the First Amendment, and, by god, free speech had to be defended. There is no denying that political correctness has been plagued by more than its fair share of excesses. And frankly, calling short people "vertically challenged" is more than excessive, it's downright stupid and petty. So is saying womyn instead of woman, freshperson instead of freshman and a host of other P.C. aberrations. But it now seems that the pendulum has swung the other way. Every issue becomes one of free speech. Thanks to Eden Jacobowitz, Alan Kors and The Wall Street Journal the hated "speech code" is now gone, and I can now run down Locust Walk yelling, "NIGGERS! NIGGERS! NIGGERS!" Whoopee. While I thank the free speech advocates for giving me the right to racially harass anyone I like, I get the nagging feeling that they are missing the point. Last semester, each time minority students said the "speech code" was the only recourse they had against racial harassment, the defenders of free speech said it was a matter of "principle". "The University can't control our speech!" they bleated. "It's against the First Amendment! Is this not America? This is the land of the free! We can say whatever we want!" Soon it became an argument of abstract principles versus racist speech. I am a white heterosexual Christian male. I do not know what it is like to be called a nigger, faggot, kike or cunt. I would imagine that it is not very pleasant. If I were in that position, I might even be willing to give up my First Amendment right to call someone a racist name, in exchange for a Racial Harassment Policy that protects me from such speech. Who knows, it might be worth the inconvenience. The bottom line is that people are a product of their environments. There are very few moral absolutes. What might seem right for a white, heterosexual, Christian male like myself, might not hold true for somebody else. I am not advocating regulating free speech in any way, shape or form. People should be allowed to say whatever the hell they want. At the same time, however, they should understand when others are concerned about free speech. They should understand that being politically correct means being civil and behaving like a human being, and not like a childish snot. Free speech carries with it responsibilities as well as rights. It means being able to see both sides of the issue and not preaching from some moral high ground. It means having the balls to acknowledge that the opposing viewpoint has some merit to it. Unfortunately, it seems that many so-called free speech advocates fail to understand this. Gabriele Marcotti is a junior Communications major from Milano, Italy, and Editorial Page Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. Land of the Stoopid will appear alternate Mondays next semester.
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