Can a student be expelled for expressing a politically-incorrect viewpoint? Dan Hubert, assistant editor of the Observer, University of Wisconsin-Waukesha's student newspaper, is the student in question. It seems that after the fatal beating of Charlie Young Jr. by a pack of young black kids, Mr. Hubert responded with the idea that welfare could be held to blame:
"Stop the welfare payments and you'll end the madness," wrote assistant editor Dan Hubert in the latest issue...In his column, which appears on the Observer editorial page, Hubert calls the suspects "monsters" and adds that "no federally funded after-school basketball program could have prevented this."
He also cites a "baggy pants" clothing style "associated with the derelicts and bohemians of society," and he charges that unwed fathers and mothers living on welfare make poor role models for children.
"Who is gunning down black people in Milwaukee? Who is holding the black community in Milwaukee down?" he continues. "The answer is simple: black people."
Stereotypical? Provocative? A simplistic cause posited to explain a complex effect? Unsupported by the data? Yes, yes, yes, and maybe. Should Mr. Hubert be expelled for writing this? Absolutely not. Some students were "insulted" by his remarks, but that should have no effect on Mr. Hubert's ability to attend college. Yes, the newspaper staff may decide that he doesn't represent the student body. Yes, some students may ostracize him. Yes, some students may publish a rebuttal to his remarks. But Mr. Hubert was not inciting violence against blacks, nor was he defaming anyone, nor was he saying anything that is not protected by the First Amendment. He did not use "fighting words", but he was expressing a politically-incorrect viewpoint, and that's what all the fuss is about.
You see, there are no calls for expulsions for students who call George Bush a "homicidal maniac". There are no calls for the expulsions of Cornell students who claim that America killed more natives than the Nazis did Jews. There are no calls for expulsions for students who arrange on-campus pro-Palestinian events that call for an end to Israeli "racism" but fail to criticize Palestinian suicide bombers. These attitudes - anti-American, anti-Bush, anti-Israel - are all chic on campus right now, and the students who bellow their opinions on these matters are just exercising their constitutionally-protected free speech.
But Mr. Hubert is a "racist", so he must be silenced - and expelled. What a sickening thought. I'm glad to see that Dean Brad Stewart plans no disciplinary action against Mr. Hubert, although he does plan to place him in a tuition-free multiculturalism course. Good. I bet Mr. Hubert will shake 'em up.