Thursday, April 7, 2016

Enough is Enough

I write this post in the wake of recent events at UTC. Earlier this week, one of my very best friends and one of the best people I know was verbally attacked by others, including organizations, on campus. You may have heard of the story through various media outlets by now, but this is a first hand account of the overreach of political correctness in this country and more specifically on college campuses. On Tuesday night, Hailey Puckett and some others chalked the middle of UTC's campus, a spot called Heritage Plaza that holds the four seals of UTC, with pro-Trump drawings. Now let's back up a minute, Hailey was recently elected as a senator for SGA for the upcoming school year. Following the drawings, dubbed "The Chalkening", Hailey tweeted a picture of the drawing with the quote, "Super proud of our art work, but I have a feeling half of UTCs campus is gonna hate it. #TheChalkening #Trump2016". Her prediction was correct and after only about 30 minutes she deleted the tweet due to aggressive responses from a group of UTC students. One girl in the group took to it to screenshot the tweet and write a Facebook post about it encouraging people to share it and saying things such as "we as a campus support love, diversity, and unity and Donald Trump does not support any of these things" and the student went on to question why someone was allowed to run and be elected who supports someone who "encourages violence at his rallies, inequality, racism, and pure hatred". The student openly says that black UTC students took it upon themselves to "clean up" campus that night. I have many problems with this post, and I know that there are similar views from a number of people because they disagree with Trump. Trump is blunt and to the point, he doesn't sugar coat the truth and for that many people hate him and disagree with his campaign. That's fine, but even if you don't like him you have to respect that some people do agree with his policies.

However, the insanely messed up world we live in has told us that we absolutely must at all times be politically correct. The problem with this is that there is such a thing as being TOO politically correct and now college campuses are filled with students getting their feelings hurt and offended on every corner. Political correctness is out of control in this country and college campuses are breeding grounds for it. Professors are constantly having to watch themselves to make sure they do not say or teach anything that could offend someone and get them in hot water, which in some ways is interfering with their students' education. Political correctness has gotten entirely too out of hand, but it's so engrained that Americans don't even realize it anymore. If we continue to put such an emphasis on it, it will continue to destroy our country and I hate to see that happen. If someone hurts your feelings so what? We have 20 year olds more sensitive than 6 year olds and that's not okay. You don't have to agree with everyone and everyone doesn't have to agree with you, but you should respect that person regardless of whether or not you agree with them. That's what we lack in this country: a lack of respect for people of different views. We preach tolerance, but in reality it only pertains to the people who agree with your beliefs, and more often than not it's liberals preaching tolerance, but the second they meet a Republican (God forbid they be a Trump supporter too) they stop practicing what they preach and they try to tell the other person that their beliefs are wrong. It's hypocritical and childish. I respect people of different beliefs and their right to support whomever they wish in the election regardless of if I agree, and I ask that people do the same, and I sure know Hailey does.

Hailey was degraded on social media for her personal political beliefs after chalking campus Tuesday night, and was even asked to resign from her newly elected position for the following year. While people were yelling about how Trump oppresses people and is evil, they were doing the same thing to Hailey and not even caring they were doing it. This girl couldn't even go to class on Wednesday because of everything going on, and when she did venture onto campus she had to have people walking with her solely for protection. Please tell me how that is spreading love and supporting diversity and unity because I see none of those things. Everything people were saying Trump does that they hate they were doing to this kind-hearted girl. She basically had to hide all day while being blown up and essentially cyber-bullied via Twitter and Facebook, but refrained from saying anything further for fear of her words being twisted even more. People were putting words in her mouth and were trying to make the tweet into things it didn't mean. It's basic knowledge that college campuses are hot spots for young liberals, but can be scary for young conservatives, so if I had to guess when she said, "I have a feeling half of UTCs campus is gonna hate it" who are you to be saying that it meant one thing or the other? I interpreted it as, "all of the liberals and anti-Trump college kids aren't going to agree with this", and not as "black UTC and all of the minorities were being targeted". Not everything has to be about race and gender regardless of what all of the politically correct people of the world will have you think.

No one deserves to have their First Amendment taken away because some people disagree with it or because what they say may offend someone, which let's be real you can't do anything without offending at least one person these days. Much less should someone be asked to resign from a position with a group encouraging diversity and inclusion for an unpopular belief. This whole thing was a mess and had it been any other presidential candidate, it would have never even gotten attention. If "Feel the Bern" had been written it probably would've even been praised and taped off by Sanders supporters as a monument. Hailey is great, and I'm glad she's not resigning from her position because she has done nothing wrong, nothing other than use
 her First Amendment right.

Stay classy,
B

6 comments:

  1. One girl in the group took to it to screenshot the tweet and write a Facebook post about it encouraging people to share it and saying things such as "we as a campus support love, diversity, and unity and Donald Trump does not support any of these things" and the student went on to question why someone was allowed to run and be elected who supports someone who "encourages violence at his rallies, inequality, racism, and pure hatred". The student openly says that black UTC students took it upon themselves to "clean up" campus that night.

    My God! People disagreed with her support for Trump, said Trump doesn't support "love, diversity and unity", and some black UTC students even *gasp* erased the chalked messages? That's horrible!

    Look, here's the deal. If this girl really needed protection to walk on campus, that's legitimately awful. If people cyberbullied her - that is, insulted her, personally and viciously - that's wrong. And no, she doesn't need to resign for holding an unpopular political position (even if supporting Trump is, objectively speaking, completely crazy). But you're not doing your "free speech is under threat" argument much good when you open your comment with various examples of people merely disagreeing with her very public statement.

    (And no, Trump doesn't "speak blunt truth" and I don't have to respect the fact that others support him, any more than I have to "respect" the Branch Davidians' belief in David Koresh. You have every right to fall for a con artist - but you don't get to demand that those of us who see through him respect you for it.)

    All the best,

    Akiva

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    1. The problem with liberals, is they say love & tolerance for all. Till you disagree with them. Then they become the most vile hate spewing people I have ever met. When people start calling for your death, rape beat down ect. Just because of something you wrote. That is suppression of free speech. Thanks to a bunch of cry babies, Freedom of speech is very much so under attack. BLM is a farce. If they truly cared about black people, then they would focus their efforts toward ending black on black crime. Notice how they said "black" UTC students cleaned up the campus? Why is everything have to be about color and race? What they should have wrote was, some enterprising students took it upon themselves to clean up the campus. Until you realize that the elite have divided us by using race, religion, and monetary standards. We will never grow as a species. btw, islam is not a religion, it's a death cult. just fyi.

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  2. I just have to wonder what would have been the campus reaction if Black Lives Matter had chalked the center of campus. I can imagine it wouldn't have been too "politically correct".

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  3. It's how the left works dear. they are fine with hate when they use it! but never try to speak the truth it's something no one on the left want's to hear and they will do everything to stop anyone from speaking it, yes even be the very hate they say they don't like!!!! This is what happens when kids know nothing about history. Here is something 99% of kids from 15 to 30 say they hate Capitalism. Ahh I wonder where I have heard that before on yes from this guy that said... “We are socialists, we are enemies of today’s capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions.” –Adolf Hitler. Maybe pick up a book young people and learn to think for yourselves all you on the so called left and stop being SHEEP!! Never forget this Adolf Hitler did not let schools teach the truth but only Socialism and Nazism that's how we got war world II.......

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  4. I have known this child's parents for many years and remember when she was born. I know her reputation to be that of a good and kind young lady. It repulses and infuriates me that she was treated this way! I am so proud of her for not resigning from her position! I hope UTC is supporting her. God bless you, Hailey - you stand strong!

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