Wed
Mar 6 2019
07:23 am
UT Knoxville: Blackface a First Amendment right?
By: bizgrrl

Posted on Snapchat by UT students, two of which were in blackface,
"We for racial equality boys," the caption reads. "Bout to get this free college now that I'm black let's gooooo #blacklivesmatter." All four people visible in the image are believed to be UT students.

The university quickly condemned the photo, but at a campus meeting Monday [Vice Chancellor for Student Life Vince] Carilli likened the incident to “expressing their First Amendment rights.”

Is this another boys will be boys incident? Geez.

Topics:
R. Neal's picture

Freedom of expression does

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 8:35am.

Freedom of expression does not equal freedom from consequences.

Rachel's picture

This. ^^^ I DO believe they

Submitted by Rachel on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 6:14pm.
(in reply to R. Neal)

This. ^^^ I DO believe they had a first amendment right to do it and that the govt in the form of the University can't censor them.

They deserve consequences; just not sure what can be done. If they worked for a private firm, they could get fired. But we're talking the government here.

Treehouse's picture

Hate speech

Submitted by Treehouse on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 9:13am.

They need to be expelled.

cafkia's picture

There is nothing in the

Submitted by cafkia on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 11:14am.

There is nothing in the Constitution about anonymity. Name them. Publish the names of the young men that showed up in blackface. That's all, just name them, no addresses or anything.

Any of us that might care about what they did can do some googling and look for photos of them when they are not displaying their racism openly.

Perry Aubric's picture

Racist Idiots, but...

Submitted by Perry Aubric on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 11:46am.

Look, these guys are racist, disgusting idiots. If they worked for me, I would fire them. Because, as someone just said, there can be hard consequences for what you say.

But...

As an employer, I am not a government entity. The First Amendment does indeed guarantee freedom of speech, and an essential part of being free in what you say and express is not being subject to government punishment for what you say. And UT is a public university, a government entity, and it has no business punishing these fools because they don't like what they are saying.

There is no "fire in a theater" here, no incitement to violence. No, they should not "be expelled," Treehouse.

However, they certainly can be identified. They can and should be shunned and ostracized by their peers. A potential employer can pass on them, once they are out of school. They can be challenged (verbally and in writing, not physically) for their racism, ignorance and stupidity.

bizgrrl's picture

So, if I work for a

Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 2:43pm.
(in reply to Perry Aubric)

So, if I work for a government entity or attend a public school I am free to say and wear whatever I want?

Rachel's picture

The courts have not been real

Submitted by Rachel on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 6:17pm.
(in reply to bizgrrl)

The courts have not been real consistent on what behavior constitutes speech, especially for students.

Although, god knows if money is speech......

fischbobber's picture

sources from campus,

Submitted by fischbobber on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 12:02pm.

I asked my son about this, on the theory that he was in the gossip trail. Supposedly, and it looks like he was correct on this part from what I can see, the two boys supposedly in blackface were wearing facial masks that are typically used by women to clean their pores. (I know, right?). It wasn't done to the intention of donning blackface, per se.

One of their so-called buddies snapped the picture, posted it on social media and added the caption.

I personally think, if this story is verified, you lecture the two wearing facial masks about whatever the hell the exact details determine are the lengths of their stupidity, publish the names, (they are on social media, its's not protected under privacy rights) and suspension/probation (at least) for the guy (or girl) that captioned the picture. Unfortunately I suspect lawyers would be there to sue.

It's a conundrum of stupidity. Something should be done.

bizgrrl's picture

It wasn't done to the

Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 2:39pm.
(in reply to fischbobber)

It wasn't done to the intention of donning blackface, per se.

Heh.

cafkia's picture

So, ... Occams Razor never

Submitted by cafkia on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 3:11pm.
(in reply to fischbobber)

So, ... Occams Razor never meant nuthin'?

fischbobber's picture

Occams Razor.

Submitted by fischbobber on Wed, 2019/03/06 - 10:53pm.
(in reply to cafkia)

Occams Razor is everything. The question is, "Is the hate stronger than the dumbass, or is the dumbass stronger than the hate?"

It's the difference between suspension and expulsion.

bizgrrl's picture

Response from Office of the

Submitted by bizgrrl on Thu, 2019/03/07 - 7:41am.

Response from Office of the Chancellor

fischbobber's picture

Ethan?

Submitted by fischbobber on Thu, 2019/03/07 - 11:55am.
(in reply to bizgrrl)

I'm guessing Ethan was the poster and that he came up with this witticism on his own?

Alex_Falk's picture

it's a pattern, not an incident

Submitted by Alex_Falk on Thu, 2019/03/07 - 8:41am.

racist country, racist parents, racist university president
turns out... racist students!

#DONTcometoUT

fischbobber's picture

Racist.

Submitted by fischbobber on Thu, 2019/03/07 - 12:05pm.
(in reply to Alex_Falk)

Knoxville's always been a racist town. We kept the city and county schools private entities, so there would be no intermingling, for years. We operate kids recreational golf that way, as well as other youth sports, even today. What do you think is going to happen?

fischbobber's picture

According to the Sentinel......

Submitted by fischbobber on Thu, 2019/03/07 - 12:10pm.

The big, bad, hometown paper was once again scooped by KnoxViews.

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