This week saw incidents at several universities across the country, but perhaps the most notable were those at the University of California at Berkley (UC Berkley) and New York University. These incidents have gone viral across mainstream news outlets and social media alike, but perhaps we are missing the point here.
It is unconstitutional and illegal for you to burn buildings because you're mad. That's not a "peaceful protest" or even a protest at all-- that's a riot.
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Milo Yiannopolous, senior editor of the far-right, highly controversial news website breitbart.com and avid Trump supporter, was scheduled to speak at Berkley, but of course, that never happened. While many (both faculty and students alike) called for administration to cancel the talk, they didn't. So instead, in the age of rage and temper tantrums, a group of violent "protestors" decided to block Mr. Yiannopolous from speaking. This "protest" quickly got out of hand with various injuries, multiple school buildings being lit on fire, and over $100,000 worth of damage to the UC Berkley campus.
Does no one see the real problem here? The problem is not who Berkley hired to speak, the problem isn't the fact that administration wouldn't cancel the event because of those who disagreed with Milo Yiannopolous personally, and the problem isn't even having a protest. No, the problem is that you cannot cause over $100,000 worth of damage to a school campus because you're mad. You're too old to throw temper tantrums. What's happened in this era that we live in?
I understand and support anyone's right to have as many protests about as many things as they see fit. That's what is so great about being an American, as there are many who do not get that right or that privilege. If you do not want to support Milo Yiannopolous and find it wildly inappropriate for him to be speaking on a university campus and would, therefore, like to peacefully protest, then I want you to do that. I want you to hold true to your convictions and your beliefs. I do not want you to compromise on something that you're passionate about. However, when has it ever been okay to intentionally damage something (and on such a large scale) because you don't like it? When has it ever been okay for you to "block" someone from speaking because you don't like what they have to say? That's not protesting for something you believe in; that's silencing a group of people who do, constitutionally and legally, have the right to speak whatever they would like to say. That's not having a protest, that's throwing a tantrum. Sure, there are arrests made for this kind of behavior, but who decided to let it get to this far in the first place? Who decided someone can't have a different, albeit "controversial" opinion? Who decided that lighting buildings and flags on fire to display their dissent was ever a good idea or okay at all?
We can be better than this, America. We can. But, until we decide that we aren't going to silence people because we don't like their opinions and until we learn that we can't burn down school property (or any property for that matter) because we are mad, and until we learn that it's okay for people to be different than we ourselves are, then we are all going to be subject to divisive politics. Things are not going to get better; they are just going to get worse. Let's think about that next time.
We can do better. We will do better.
