When I was first told by our teacher that we would be leading a public deliberation during this semester, I had absolutely no clue as to what she was referring to. That may sound stupid, but I did not know or understand why an English class would have anything in common with a deliberation. My dream is to become a criminal prosecutor, so I obviously know that a deliberation is a discussion made before voting, especially in regards to court cases and trials. But how could this have any relation to a college English course?
We then spent the remainder of the period going over and planning what we may do our deliberations on. I just sat there and nodded when I saw fit, still confused as to what the relevance of this assignment was. Immediately after class, I did an abundant amount of research on deliberations, and popular ones from the past. I stumbled upon a surplus of crime trials (which is obviously something I am deeply fascinated by). Three hours and multiple crime documentaries later, I realized why deliberations are important to me and how I can use my personal connection to benefit our own deliberation group.
Free speech versus hate speech is the topic my group decided on, and it could not be a more appropriate time to address the topic. This topic is very personal for me. I am from the south, and my best friend in the entire world is from Pakistan. Often times, there would be comments made to her that were degrading and expressed a deep hatred for her culture. This sparked an intense anger on my side; I would be very quick to come to her defense. The people would explain that they were merely using their right to free speech, but it still never felt right or justified. However, there was nothing I felt I could say back to counter argue their point.
Now that we are doing this project, I feel as though I can get a sense of closure with the free speech argument I often had. It gives me a feeling of peace, and hopefully we will be able to help inform others about this issue as well.
I agree that whenever I hear free speech I immediately become angered. However, whenever someone says something around the idea of them using their free speech I always remind them that yes they do have a right to say what they say, but this will not stop other people from becoming angered and reacting back. The idea of free speech was founded on discussion, anyone should be able to express their ideas so as to make improvements through working together and compromising. Whenever I see people angry over the fact that their hateful comments were taken off of the internet or social media I think of a metaphor I read a few years ago. Think about someone talking in a microphone to a crowd. If someone unplugs the microphone, they are still allowed to say what they want to say, this is not hindered. They have a right of speech, not a right of audience.
I remember back towards the beginning of fall semester I absolutely hated the fact that so much of our English work would be in the public eye; every project we do somehow manages to convince me that I was wrong. We have to learn how to bring a discussion to the public and hear both sides of the story. The trick with free speech is learning how to let both sides of the story have their moment and then come to a compromise that hopefully is the right thing to do. I still don’t like public speaking, but I understand why we need projects like this.
Honestly, there were a lot of moments I wondered why we did certain things in rcl, but I loved learning new things and sharing them. Learning about deliberating to me helps put a voice out there and start learning how to make a difference and participate in society.