Defending the First Amendment…For Everyone
IMUS: So, I watched the basketball game last night between — a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women’s final.
ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night — seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
IMUS: That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and –
McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That’s some nappy-headed hos there…
Within a week of these comments we Rutgers students flooded from buses toward a normally peaceful grassy knoll. We stood in a massive semi-circle hoisting homemade signs in the air. We raised our voices and pumped our fists in unison -protesting against racism and sexism.
A panel of speakers delivered impassioned speeches urging the student body to reject not only Imus’ statements, but all forms of racism and sexism in society. Their words spread through the crowd like a strong breeze through a forest, lifting the heads and spirits of those that had been weighed down by Imus’ invective.
Tables lined the perimeter armed with the names, numbers, and addresses of the advertising companies that endorsed Imus.
We called. We wrote. We signed. We made them accountable.
This controlled chaos, this organized moment of anarchy, was what I had waited for my entire college career. Students, faculty, and administration of all genders, races, and ages joined together to fight this injustice. Finally something mattered enough for us to shrug off the stereotypical apathy said to plague my generation – to gather together and make ourselves heard.
And heard we were. Within the next week several of Imus’ advertising sponsors pulled their support from the on-air personality, fearing that too much of their core audience would link them to his deplorable remarks. Following the televised protest he was suspended from the radio station, slapped with a lawsuit, and eventually forced to make an apology to the women’s basketball team.
During the months that this situation unfolded the words of passionate students, sympathetic editorials, and neutral news analysts flooded the Rutgers community. The First Amendment was under attack. Why was the government tolerating racist and sexist ideas? Why couldn’t freedom of speech apply to just the “good” ideas? Why couldn’t anyone just shut this guy up?
Let’s face it, the First Amendment is a dangerous and antagonistic concept. It makes space for all ideas regardless of whether they are rooted in truth or falsehood. Anyone with eyes, a mouth, or hands can announce their opinions to the world (much like this column) and very little recourse can be taken against them. Or can it? Despite the overwhelming desire to just shut a person up, it remains true that mere words – facts, information, debate – have more impact than a roll of duct tape ever will.
It is the protection of the right to express these ideas that improves the cultural conversation about the social politics of race, sex, religion, gender, tradition, and life. So as frustrating and antagonistic and dangerous as it may seem, this amendment affords us the right to turn instances like the Imus debacle into teachable moments. Just as Imus was protected in expressing his prejudice, we were protected in rising up against it.
As a free and progressive society it is essential that we give all ideas, no matter how base or inflammatory, the opportunity to be expressed and challenged. The amendment helps us question our core beliefs, search for our own definable truth, as well as dispel myths by seeking out the facts. Unfortunately this process includes wading through the bigotry and prejudice of people like Don Imus. Nevertheless you’ll also find that it provides you with rational thought, enlightenment, and intellect-based support for your thoughts.
The First Amendment may seem like a nuisance or a cheap soapbox for any “shock jock” looking for attention, but upon closer inspection you’ll see that it is so much more than that. It’s a vehicle for enlightenment, a sound stage for justice, and often a creator of communities.
Psychologist Weighs In On Handling Holiday Separation
The holidays are traditionally a time for families to be together. That message is in the songs, the movies, and even displayed in storefront windows. What happens when your family is separated by more than distance but by the physical and psychological barriers imposed by incarceration? How then do you cope with the holidays?
We recently sat down with Dr. Harland Kessaris to talk about how to cope with the absence of a loved one during the holiday season and other questions asked by you. As a psychologist who specializes in re-entry of incarcerated individuals back into family and society, he was able to provide some insight into handling this potentially alienating time of year.
Dr. Kessaris stressed the importance of open communication between children, the incarcerated, and those caring for the children, “As much as you can you should include them [the incarcerated],” said Kessaris. “I think people need to be reminded, encouraged, and assisted in doing that.” For Kessari, the key is to make a sincere effort to connect personally.
Click here to listen to audio excerpts of the interview with Dr. Kessaris.
NAACP 4th Annual Conference on Criminal Justice
Empowerment and enlightenment were the consistent themes of the NAACP’s 4th Annual Conference on Criminal Justice at York College on Saturday October 25th.
The conference workshops focused on community action and response to the conditions that incarceration creates for society as a whole. Wanda Best DeVeaux, committee chairperson for the prison project, has been heading these conferences in hopes that residents and community activists will have an impact on state legislation.
Lives In Focus Project Gives Families of the Incarcerated Space
Lives in Focus is a project that uses video, audio, and photographs to present the voices and stories of those coping with loved ones being in prison. The website (livesinfocus.org/prison) provides a space where families of the incarcerated can:
Connect with others going through similar situations and join our free social network
Watch our video blogs or express yourself and submit your own
Read the latest news articles on incarceration
Get info on upcoming events and workshops
The project also trains at-risk community youth in video and audio editing at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism so they can tell their own story in their own style and learn valuable skills at the same time. To find out more about the project or how to get involved visit the site.
Art Imitating Life: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on SNL
The sexism that has completely consumed this election (on both sides of the campaign) is comically parodied by Saturday Night Live. If nothing else maybe the mainstream media distributors can stand back and take a look at themselves in the mirror that the comedy sketch offers up.
Gas price could fall below cost in N.J.
A bill allowing gas stations to sell gas below cost could ease pain at the pump but threaten small New Jersey businesses.Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland, guided the legislation through the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee on Thursday. It would eliminate gas price floors that require gas stations to sell above cost.
Enacted during the Great Depression, the regulations were originally intended to protect fuel sales from being monopolized by big business. Burzichelli said he no longer sees that as an issue.
“It is time for state gas pricing laws to catch up to speed with the times,” said Burzichelli. “New Jersey’s current law is a holdover from a time when consumers had few options as to where they could buy gas and monopolistic companies could manipulate prices to run roughshod over the marketplace. With the sheer number of choices available to motorists today, consumers should be able to decide for themselves the acceptable price of a fill-up.”
Some consumers agree. Sachin Ahuja, of Toms River, who was filling up at a Super Wawa in Egg Harbor Township, said that he is in favor of measures lowering gas prices. “Since gas is connected to everything, if gas prices go down, inflation will probably go down too,” he said.
However, small gas station owners see it differently.Ranjit Dhaliwal, owner of the Gulf on the White Horse Pike in Absecon for the past 19 years, is staunchly against the bill. “[Legislators] want to put small business out of business,” he said. He sees the convenience stores and repair shops of bigger businesses as a threat to small-station owners if the bill is approved.
“We are a gas-and-go, just a gas-and-go competing with Wawa, who sells under-cost and has stores inside.”
Dhaliwal’s concerns are not unfounded. Burzichelli noted that service stations with convenience stores or auto-repair shops make the bulk of their revenue from those more profitable services, not the sale of gasoline.
Returning from a four-month vacation, Krish Patel was unaware of the new legislation. The Mays Landing Lukoil gas station owner said that under the circumstances of the bill, his business would be “ruined”.
Relying on the sale of gas per gallon, Patel said soaring gas prices have hurt his business. Whereas he used to sell 180,000 to 200,000 gallons daily, today it is down to 150,000. With employee salaries, a mortgage and bill payments, Patel sees his future as bleak upon passage of the bill, “If they go below price, then I’m done and there’s nothing I can do about it,” he said.
Patel recalled a recent meeting he had with Lukoil corporation representatives that outlined their strategy as being pennies ahead of the competition while still maintaining their quality. Still, Patel is doubtful, saying that profiting at least 10-12 cents per gallon is the only way his business can survive. “With prices as they are, people are not looking for quality, they are looking for cheap,” he said.
Tanoia Davis, whose car was idling in a five-car line at the SAM’s Club pump in Pleasantville, found herself torn on the issue. “The big businesses seem to crush the little guy all the time, and I don’t want to see the little guy crushed,” said the Atlantic City resident. “But at the same time, I’m like any other consumer – I want reasonable gas prices.”
The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee released the gas-cost bill 3-1 with one abstention. It now heads to the Assembly Speaker, who decides if and when to post it for a floor vote.
Dhaliwal says he has a better idea. He suggests the state impose a fixed minimum profit on gas similar to those on milk and cigarettes. Such a measure would yield businesses a 5-6 percent profit per each gallon sold.
He sees his suggestion as a good alternative legislators should take into consideration. “They should,” he said. “If small businesses are going to survive, the state has to do something.”
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