Allen West & the Censoring of Free Speech
Saint Louis University found itself immersed in controversy this past week surrounding the lecture of former Republican congressman Allen West. West was invited to SLU’s campus by the local chapter of the Young America’s Foundation, a Republican party affiliated group promoting conservatism on college campuses. Leading up to the scheduled lecture, members of the YAF had their advertising fliers rejected by an unnamed campus official over the inclusion of the phrase “radical Islam.” When West heard of the bowdlerized fliers and the student led movement to physically take down his promotional material, he went on the offensive, calling out both SLU’s faculty and it’s students in a post published on his website.
West, a retired Lt. Colonel who served 22 years as an active member of the United States Armed Forces including two combat tours to Kuwait and Iraq respectively, had an opportunity to provide some in-depth analysis from the unique perspective of someone who was in combat with terrorism for decades. However, the faculty at SLU had other ideas stating that West did not “have experience with radical Islam” therefore was unqualified to use that phrase in advertising the event. Factually, this is false as his military career and his previous position on the United States House Committee of Armed Service, a committee directly responsible for the Department of Defense, seems to suggest that he may in fact be incredibly familiar with radical Islam, or at least qualified enough to give opinions on the subject. West “called out” the administrator who rejected the flyer to step forward and identify him or herself, and posed this question, “What makes you think you’re experienced or qualified to make any judgement on me?” A question that, for now, appears to have gone unanswered.
In the statement on his website West admonished the SLU student body and the culture on college campuses for their censoring of free speech. “If you attempt to speak on issues to which the liberal progressive socialist left does not consent, you should be censored. Or at a minimum, the little cupcakes ask for a ‘safe space’ where they don’t have to hear opposing views — and here we were under the impression that institutions of higher learning were supposed to be places to encourage the free exchange of ideas.” Later on in his piece West went on to say that, “If this is just a case of ill-conceived political correctness, we’ll rectify that. But, if this is a case of the influence of stealth jihad radical Islamic campus organizations such as the Muslim Student Association, an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, then you will be exposed.” These two comments brought tremendous backlash from the student body and some faculty members at SLU.
Some members of the student body deemed West’s comments about the Muslim Student Association (MSA) as bigoted, others fought back against the broad brush depicting college students as “cupcakes.” A protest was held outside of the event where students baked cupcakes, a cheeky play on West’s own words, and collected donations for Syrian refugees. Another protest was held inside the event itself, where students organized a walkout to show they were “not okay” with West’s “hate speech.” In a previous event on Jihad where West spoke, he stated, “If the truth has become hate speech, you better lock me up, because I’m not shutting up.”
The walkout protest was organized by a group called the SLU Rainbow Alliance. In the email sent by those organizing the protest, members were warned the event might be “extremely triggering” and that they “cannot guarantee tonight will be a safe space.” The Muslim Student Association also sent out an email to students advertising that anyone feeling “uncomfortable” could “utilize the Rainbow office as a safe space.” The irony of these emails does not need to be pointed out.
The walkout demonstrated that West was not wrong about the atmosphere among the students on SLU’s campus. A walkout does not demonstrate moral superiority. To retreat from harmful ideas rather than engage them intellectually is to admit defeat. At the time of this writing, no video has been posted of the event or West’s lecture at SLU, but judging from past talks it would be impossible to say “Radical Islam” is a subject that West is ignorant on. In fact, he appears incredibly well educated on both Islam and the problems of combating terrorism. An opportunity to have a rational discussion on a very important topic was wasted when these students chose to plug their ears rather than attempt to problem-solve through discourse.
Allen West on his best day could be described as abrasive, but to jump to accusations of bigotry is the antithesis of productive. More likely than not, many of the students who joined in on this trendy protest did so because they heard from someone else (maybe a friend, maybe a post on social media) that a hate-monger was coming to campus. They probably could not describe any specific ideas that West has on the topics of Islam or the Middle East. By not taking the time to listen to West speak, they missed the opportunity to hear a perspective that might differ from their own. A perspective which may have changed their views or perhaps could have given them insight into ways to sharpen their own ideas.
This is not an endorsement for Allen West. This is purely an endorsement for conversation. It is a relief that there was no serious effort to deplatform West. Last November SLU’s Law Students wanted to bring an attorney for Planned Parenthood to campus for a talk, but the event had to be moved off campus due to the fact the speech conflicted with the university's values. It’s possible that SLU President Fred Pestello learned from that incident. In a statement regarding West’s visit, he made it clear that he stood in solidarity with the students of SLU, but stated that ““As an institution of higher learning, SLU must resist the urge to suppress speech and instead expose all ideas and positions, provocative or pedestrian, to critical scrutiny. The fundamental purpose of a community of scholars and learners is to engage respectfully rather than repress.”
SLU is a college after all, and the idea of college is to be exposed to new ideas and be challenged intellectually. This concept does not stop at math and science, it extends to all areas of life. If someone were under the impression that they knew everything when they entered college, they would have effectively hamstrung themselves at the mental age of 18. Meeting people from all walks of life, from different cultures and upbringings, and having those uncomfortable conversations is incredibly important for the development of young minds. Having a “scary” conversation whether it’s about Islam, feminism, gay rights, abortion, whatever the topic may be will be beneficial in the long run. Agreement on every topic is not required, but moving forward does require the ability to debate ideas and the willingness to compromise. Censorship, name calling, and hiding will not suffice.
