** TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide, description of an offensive poster **
The First Amendment SHOULD NOT protect the invitation of fear.
On Friday, October 13th, disturbing flyers were put up in the Main Classroom Building of Cleveland State University. The flyers had a person hanging from a noose, cited the suicide rates of LGBT people along both sides of the hanging figure, and in large letters above all this, used a derogatory term for the LGBT community while urging the rest us to add to the suicide statistics.
Earlier this week, two statements were released by the President of the University, Ronald Berkman, stating that First Amendment protects the freedom to post hateful messages such as that. At the public forum about this crisis on Wednesday, October 18th, though bombarded with testimonials and questions from scared and angry students, President Berkman held his ground that nothing could be done and that the First Amendment protects whoever posted the flyers.
There was no other reason why these flyers were posted other than to gain attention through fear. There has been no other solution yet to this fiasco other than taking the flyers down. This sends the message that people are allowed to post whatever they want no matter who it hurts, and the only punishment they'll get is...well...nothing apparently.
Whoever was responsible for this poster was able to get away with what they did, and now those who were targeted are left to wonder how will we be attacked while on campus.
The one thing President Berkman and those around him kept saying at the public forum is that they needed our help to know what to do to help us feel safe. This should be a no-brainer.
What would anyone do in order to ensure their loved ones are safe? They wouldn't just assume the danger is over because the fliers were taken down. They'd want to know who put them up, why they put them up, and if they were punished for scaring their loved ones. To make students feel safe is to understand why this flyer scared us and punish those responsible for doing it.
Let people know that telling people to kill themselves is not funny and is considered a threat.
My personal message to President Berkman is to find those responsible, punish them accordingly, and monitor what fliers and rallies are held on campus more closely. Don't just let a serious incident like this be brushed aside to protect those who want to stir a panic. Your face throughout that public forum was one of annoyance and frustration.
Not of concern for those of us who are now scared for our lives on campus every day. We don't know if we're walking by those who put that flyer up. If they're looking for those of us who are out on campus to assault or kill us. We don't know what their planning to do next to get attention.
And we don't have faith that you will protect us from them - because you won't look into finding out who they are due to the First Amendment. This is not ok.