Free Speech Is Never Easy

I taught at one of the less troubled Univ. of California campuses from 1962-2000. We had of course the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the Vietnam War, Watergate, the Reagan presidency for which we had been prepared by the Reagan governorship in California, and the OJ trial. Lots of political, racial, and other sources of speech, free and otherwise. I at times became a victim of leftist faculty malice, and I know others in the same boat. I also know of malice from conservatives. It is hard to maintain free speech when most people, even on campuses, believe in free speech if it agrees with them. Today, some on the right are exaggerating the degree of leftist domination, while leftists are very quick to claim there is no leftist domination. Outside of esoteric scientific fields, there has been and remains a great deal of difficulty in expressing oneself freely. Many people are totally predictable. When I see and hear Professors Eddie Glaude and Julian Zelizer on MSNBC or CNN, I know exactly what they are going to say. That is too bad.