BERKELEY FREE SPEECH GRAFFITI

By Angela Kirkland

The University of California at Berkeley made international headlines for being awash in chaos for hours last Wednesday.

Angela Kirkland (PennLive file)

Milo Yiannopolous, a famous white supremacist and internet troll, was sponsored by Berkeley's Republican student organization to come and give a speech. In response, hundreds of students descended upon the campus to protest Yiannopolous' contemptible rhetoric.

The march and rally was initially what one would describe as peaceful.

Later, about one hundred people, dressed all in black and masked, showed up and the action intensified. They smashed windows with barricades, started a bonfire and set off smoke bombs and fireworks.

Yiannopolous was swiftly escorted out of the student union by police before being able to utter a single word of his speech, and he later ranted on Facebook, saying that the left is dead set on suppressing viewpoints that don't align with theirs.

Those leftists demonstrated at Berkeley from a desire to drum out hate that has left a trail of violent repression against innocent people on Yiannopolous' university tour.

At the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, he outed a transgender student by prominently showcasing their photo and mocking them by calling them a "tranny", to the laughter of those in attendance.

The school's chancellor made a statement after the event; paying lip service to inclusiveness and acceptance, he wrote that attacks on students will never be tolerated.

However, students at UM-Milwaukee had been pressuring the school to drop Yiannopolous from the event schedule for at least a month prior to his appearance, and they had refused, citing free speech principles.

In the days after the Berkeley riot, it was learned that Yiannopolous planned to out undocumented students and instruct attendees on how to contact ICE to get them deported, as he had done at previous campus stops around the country.

But also in the wake of the protest that successfully shut Yiannopolous down, several Berkeley officials maintained that it was "sad" free speech was being suppressed, and that all viewpoints should be welcomed, regardless of whether or not people may feel attacked by them.

Due to the fact that some campus organizations and officials are still welcoming this deplorable human to spew his white supremacist, transphobic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant bile and are upset at his events getting cancelled, it is clear "free speech" has been twisted into the insistence of allowing everyone to say what they want without consequence.

Speech for those like Yiannopolous and those who share his values-- President Trump, Steve Bannon, et al-- has always been free. The white male elite has always had resources that allow for massive influence. Free speech has always been an issue for those who Yiannopolous and his cronies are working to exterminate.

The concept of free speech is about marginalized people being empowered enough to speak on and fight against their suffering in a system that is built to harm them and keep them silent about it.

The protesters at Berkeley and other campuses acted on the original belief that free speech should not be about legitimizing violence against people whose oppression is institutionalized.

Yiannopolous has been quoted as saying "There is a big difference between words and action."

But despite his claim of words being largely unimportant, he spends much of his time writing for Breitbart News, the alt-right website, and speaking at college events when they aren't getting cancelled by administrators who wised up to his disgusting antics.

The systematic killing of Native Americans and theft of their land began with words.

The rationalization and proliferation of chattel slavery began with words on how black people were inferior to whites and were lucky to be in bondage.

The slaughter of millions of Jews and others in a tragedy known as the Holocaust began with words.

Yiannopolous knows the effect his words have on his supporters. He knows his words enact and justify physical harm and endangerment of other human beings who have the misfortune of not being born white and male in America, and the too-common belief that free speech is merely an end unto itself enables his incredulity about his impact.

Those at Berkeley and other colleges around the country who stood up to the violent hatred inherent in Yiannopolous' words should be lauded and encouraged.

They have saved lives. We will need many more like them in these trying times.

Angela Kirkland, of Harrisburg, is a PennLive Opinion contributor. Her work appears biweekly.