[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Fwd: [ExComm] Fwd: News-Gazette coverage

[LAURIE]

Ok, we paused.  Was that long enough a pause?

 

I think that you are making a mountain out of a molehill by ignoring the
fact that the references are not to individual acts during an institutional
event but to officially organized acts by individuals during an
institutional event.  It is a distinction with a difference.  The
"pro-Chief" displays during homecoming being objected to are not individuals
wearing t-shirts with the Chief on them but to an organized demonstration by
the university or officially recognized university bodies or units
(including frats and sororities, university sponsored clubs and
organizations, etc.) in which the symbolic act of protest is the wearing of
said shirts.  It is analogous to the City of Urbana actively organizing.
Participating, and/or sponsoring a show in which objectionable materials are
going to be displayed as contrasted to a private entity showing such
materials on a show that they organized, are participating in, and/or are
sponsoring on a publically owned and operated station that offers open
public access.                                

 

From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Robert Naiman
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 11:23 AM
To: Stuart Levy
Cc: peace-discuss at anti-war.net
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Fwd: [ExComm] Fwd: News-Gazette
coverage

 


I don't see what the principled difference is between asking the University
to bar Chief t-shirts from University events and asking the Urbana City
Council to bar Holocaust denial videos from UPTV. It seems to me that
Chancellor Herman's decision was correct on free-speech grounds, and that
asking the University to sever its ties with Homecoming if there are
pro-Chief displays is analogous to asking the Urbana City Council to get rid
of public access if it results in Holocaust denial videos being aired.

If the analogy is imperfect, it seems to me that it is close enough that it
should give us pause.

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 6:04 PM, Stuart Levy <slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu> wrote:

On Thu, May 01, 2008 at 05:52:16PM +0200, Robert Naiman wrote:
> I suppose we may soon see letters in the News-Gazette charging the peace
> community in Champaign-Urbana with gross hypocrisy.
>
> One the one hand, we are insisting that the Urbana City Council defend the
> right to air Holocaust denial videos on UPTV.
>
> On the other hand, we are demanding that the Chancellor stop students from
> wearing pro-Chief shirts in University-sponsored events.
>
> What's the consistent principle that unites these two demands?

But are we demanding that?  The recent article closes by pointing out


     "It is important to understand that we are not talking about
   the freedom of an individual or a group of individuals to
   walk down Wright Street or appear in the stands at a football
   or basketball game dressed as the Chief.  Some of us might
   find that behavior odious," the statement says, but it can't
   legitimately be proscribed.

     That's different from use of the Chief by participants in a
   university-sponsored event, the committee says.

That sounds consistent to me.  We can oppose institutional racism
while still supporting individual freedom of expression, even when it's
racist.  No?


> On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 4:03 PM, Belden Fields <a-fields at uiuc.edu> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > *From: *Belden Fields <a-fields at uiuc.edu>
> > *Date: *April 30, 2008 8:57:52 AM CDT
> > *To: *UPEexcom <EXCOMM at prairienet.org>
> > *Subject: **[ExComm] Fwd: News-Gazette coverage*
> >
> >
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > *From: *Belden Fields <a-fields at uiuc.edu>
> > *Date: *April 30, 2008 8:55:01 AM CDT
> > *To: *Constance H Shapiro <chshapir at uiuc.edu>, Eleanor Tewksbury <
> > etewksbu at uiuc.edu>, Joyce Tolliver <joycet at uiuc.edu>, Adriana Cuervo
> > acuervo at uiuc.edu, Belden Fields a-fields at uiuc.edu, Kevin Fritz
> > kfritz2 at uiuc.edu, Franci Miller familler at uiuc.edu, Adriana Cuervo <
> > acuervo at uiuc.edu>
> > *Subject: **News-Gazette coverage*
> >
> > Dear Excom members,
> >
> > I hope that you all had a chance to see Julie Wurth's excellent story
> > about the Senate's Equal Opportunity and Inclusion Committee's
resolution
> > and policy statement in yesterday's (Thursday, the 29th) News-Gazette.
> >
> > Belden

 

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