Censorship Today
Two seemingly unrelated events: New York Times reporter Chris Hedges is booed off stage during his commencement speech at an Illinois university. A high school student is prevented from displaying a portrait depicting herself with an exposed breast. How are these two events related beyond being described in the same paragraph in this essay?
A liberal might argue that they are both instances of censorship and closed mindedness. In the first instance a speaker had the microphone unplugged and was prevented from expressing his views on the war in Iraq. In the second case, a high school girl could not show her artwork by her school principal – who decided that the work was inappropriate to display in a high school. Both are clear cases of censorship.
Since the McCarthy era, the term censorship has taken on another connotation: the prevention of an individual’s expression by a greater authority. In the case of the high school student, the greater authority is the principal of the school; in Hedges’ case – the greater authority was the administration of the university that killed the microphone.
“Bottom-up” vs “Top-down” censorship
Over the past two decades the liberals have decried this top-down censorship: the attempts of Republicans to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. The controversies in the 1980s over Robert Mapplethorpe exhibits. Attorney General Ed Meese’s crusade against pornography at the same time. Rudy Giuliani’s attempts to ban the display of “Piss Christ” in New York during the early 1990s. All these cases became notorious for the form of “top-down” censorship that liberals associate with oppression.
But things aren’t quite this simple. First, the principal has stated that he personally did not find the self-portrait offensive in the least and would not have objected to it in another setting. Secondly, the university administrators were fully aware of Hedges’ controversial views when they booked him for the commencement address. Evidently the school was founded by Jane Addams, an outspoken advocate for unpopular causes. The people who actually pulled the plug on Hedges were the same ones that turned their backs on him and booed him: the students themselves.
In essence the censorship against Hedges was “bottom-up” – and was directed against the authorities: the school administration. This is much more problematic for the liberal point of view since many of the liberals are now part of the establishment. During the recent Iraq War, liberals found themselves censoring pro-war viewpoints from their students in schools in universities nationwide. Similarly such formerly respected news sources as the New York Times, Reuters and the Los Angeles Times censored opinions which ran contrary to their editorial biases.
One big difference between the attempts by the Meese Commission of the 1980s and the censorship seen on campuses and in the headlines today is that the Commission called their actions censorship: the editors of the New York Times and the BBC continue to claim their biases are the Truth and that the events which don’t agree with their bias are falsehoods. Hence we have the extraordinary story from the LA Times and the BBC of the Jessica Lynch rescue being staged. Extraordinary claims deserve extraordinary proof – and the Beeb and the Times don’t have any. At least Meese was honest when he tried to ban porno movies.
The death of civility
There is a place for everything. Saying that having sex in public is not appropriate does not make one anti-sex. One can believe that sex is a private matter and should be done in an appropriate place and an appropriate time. The high school student’s artwork would be appropriate in an art gallery setting – but not in a public space such as in a high school hallway.
Meese failed in his efforts to ban pornographic videos because he could not convince Americans that their own homes were not an appropriate place to view pornography. It’s interesting to note that while mayors across the country have been successful at banning X rated theaters, they have had virtually no success at banning the rental and sale of pornographic movies.
Civil libertarians should be aware of all acts of censorship. However they also need to recognize the role of appropriateness to avoid unnecessary battles. While one might agree with the refusal of the principal to display the high student’s artwork at a high school, one should be prepared to fight against the censorship of the artist should she not be allowed to display her painting in a public art gallery.
As the cliche goes, there is a time and place for everything under the sun. Chris Hedges’ began his address by stating, “I’m here to talk about war and empire.” He should have been there to talk about the students that were graduating that day. Hedges was not subjected to censorship; his inappropriate choice of a speech subjected him to the exercise of the right to freedom of expression by his audience.
It is important in a society for people to follow the same code of behavior. Americans are notorious for being more unmannered and direct than many other nationalities. Recent events show the impact a slow-death of civility in our society has. It is why President Ford’s saying that “We can disagree without being disagreeable,” remains a shining example that allows us to protect our rights to free expression.
