Recently, an English professor at Fresno State posted a rather opinionated and careless comment on twitter, in response to Barbara Bush's death. Randa Jarrar stated that the former first lady was an "amazing" racist and she can't wait for the rest of the Bush family to die. As a person in academia, one who's job is to teach and expand the knowledge of students, a lot believe that Jarrar made a horrible and stupid mistake expressing this opinion online, and that she should be fired.
Furthermore, the writer of the article argues that conservatives especially should not oppose Jarrar's statement because on the Fresno State Campus, they are considered minorities because of their political views, and the first amendment could be argued to protect minorities. So, if conservatives wish for Jarrar to be fired, they are only hurting themselves and their future ability to speak their mind.
I think what Jarrar said was incredibly disrespectful and uncalled for; however, the first amendment does exist to protect ones right of free speech, and this comment on twitter is included under that amendment, so she should not be fired for speaking her mind.
Do you think Jarrar should be fired? Is Jarrar's comment protected under the first amendment? Should conservatives support or oppose Jarrar?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/04/19/conservatives-shouldnt-want-randa-jarrar-fired/?utm_term=.5df056c0d2fc
8 comments:
The 1st amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The 1st amendment protects you from the federal government shutting down your speech on your OWN PLATFORM. Nobody is preventing Jarrar from speaking on her own property, the school is making a choice on whether to have somebody like that on its property. Twitter is also free to delete that comment.
The question isn't whether the school is able to or not, it's how far should colleges campuses go in protecting free speech. After all, hearing other's opinions makes you much smarter in the process. Jarrar didn't just state her opinion on the Iraq war or anything the Bush administration did, she personally attacked a whole family. Because of this, I think the college should at least look into her record as a teacher and make a decision on whether she benefits the college or not.
Nobody should be fired for saying dumb stuff on Twitter, but if one's teaching is as incoherent and distasteful as their Tweets are, then they should be punished. It's almost guaranteed that she's going to be eviscerated by the internet when armchair warriors gang up to ridicule and mock her belief that she's a courageous martyr preaching the harsh truth, so if she doesn't get punished by the school, she will be smitten elsewhere.
I firmly believe in the discussion of different ideas. I may not agree with a lot of conservatives ideas, but I am open to hearing them. Ideas should be discussed, and I would happily engage in discussions regarding the influence of the Bush family in American politics and whether so much political power in a single family is a threat to democracy. Saying that I wish all the Bush's would just die already does not add to that discussion. If Jarrar is capable of having that discussion in her classes than she deserves to keep her job, if all the discussions in her class reflect the quality of her tweets than she deserves to lose it.
I definitely think that Jarrar has the right to speak her opinion online, even if it's as hateful and negative as the one pointed out above. However, I don't think it warrants her being fired. Unless her ability to teach is impacted by her political/societal views, her position as an English professor should remain intact. Of course, there's no doubt that this will tinge her reputation.
It doesn't matter whether conservatives should support Jarrar's comments or not. There is a time and a place to say certain things. In my opinion, when it comes to death, at least hold off on the disrespect for a few days. She shouldn't be fired but she should at least delete the comment.
I agree with Gabby that one shouldn't speak badly of a person right after their death if they want to start a genuine discussion. Many people might not be completely ready to hear such comments at such a time, so if Jarrar wanted people to respond better to her comments and consider them more seriously, she definitely should have waited a while. Despite this, she had ever right to say what she did, but the question is whether a school would want such an opinionated professor to represent them.
I wouldn't blame Fresno State for firing her. This has nothing to do with freedom of speech, it has to do with setting a good example for students as to how to conduct academic discourse. Wishing death on a family, however terrible they may be, brings into serious question the academic credentials of this professor. Freedom of speech can be argued to a certain extent; she can't be arrested for saying what she said, however freedom of speech is not total in the workplace. If you say something sexist, racist, or otherwise hateful in your place of work, chances are, you're going to get fired. This is the same reason why colleges and employers look through people's internet records. As a teacher, her job is to educate, not indoctornate, and spewing such personal attacks only sets an example for students to isolate themselves from those they disagree with. One cannot academically argue against the statement "I can't wait until the rest of them die," and it just gives liberals a bad look. I'm not saying I disagree with the premise of what she said, but the university has every right to fire her based on the lack of maturity with which she set it and the fact that she is supposed to set a good example for academic discourse to her students.
I agree with Chris that her comments are protected under the First Amendment (although her job might not be) but I don't think she should be fired because it is her personal social media and it does not affect her English classes.
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