Based on its recent actions, the City of Berkeley, Calif., ought to change its slogan to “the sunny city of hippies, liberality and disrespectful free speech.”
On Jan. 29, the Berkeley City Council awarded a permanent parking space to the anti-war group Code Pink. This sounds unremarkable and even typical for Berkeley (the supporter of all things liberal or hippie) until you consider that the parking space is directly in front of Berkeley’s Marine Corps recruiting office and that Berkeley, a longtime opponent of the Iraq War, granted the parking spot with a resolution that stated they were doing so to encourage people to nonviolently impede the work of the “unwelcome intruder” recruiters. The resolution stated much worse about the U.S. military recruiters, but at its core was an anti-war sentiment.
Although the Berkeley City Council has the right to take municipal action in line with the wishes of its citizens, its action to grant Code Pink a parking spot in front of the Marine Corps recruiting office is disrespectful. Not only does Berkeley’s action set a possibly dangerous precedent for cities to encourage speech on issues with which its elected officials agree and prohibit speech with which they disagree, but Berkeley’s actions were a symbolic slap in the face to military service personnel in the false name of peace and opposition to war.
A comparable situation might be if the Salt Lake City Council granted an anti-LDS group a permanent parking spot and protest permit outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Salt Lake temple.
I am a fan of the U.S. Constitution and a firm believer in U.S. citizens’ rights to exercise their First Amendment freedoms to free religion, assembly, press, petition and speech. Although I believe the First Amendment should be read literally and that Congress should “make no law…prohibiting…or abridging (First Amendment freedoms),” I believe that free speech and other First Amendment rights can and should be exercised with tact, respect and consideration for others whenever possible.
It is possible to support our troops and still oppose the Iraq War. It is also possible to do so while being respectful, considerate and tactful. You can even oppose the military entirely without resorting to rude, disrespectful means aimed at the personnel in the military more than the institution itself. You can also disagree with the reasons or rationale behind why our troops are in the Middle East and still respect them for choosing to participate in a cause in which they believe and for protecting our country in other, non-Iraq War endeavors.
I count myself in this category. I support and respect our military service members, though I oppose this war because of the reasons we’ve been given for why we entered into it. Berkeley and others have apparently taken the lesser route.
Berkeley had a multitude of other ways at its disposal to voice its opposition to the Iraq War without granting anti-war protesters near-carte blanche authority and parking space to use to harass military recruiters and people who want to and make the choice to go to the recruiting office and join the U.S. Marines. This move was the wrong move. Even passing the inflammatory resolution without granting Code Pink the parking spot or protest permit would have been more respectful than what Berkeley did.
Unfortunately, Berkeley is not alone. I am continually amazed by the disrespect for our military personnel that seems to be omnipresent in our nation. I have witnessed the verbal harassment of U.S. military personnel in grocery stores and other public places countless times. Never have I heard anyone go up to one of those military personnel and thank him or her for the good that he or she does.
Berkeley was one of the starting points of the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s. But now, Berkeley has acted to promote speech that it agrees with (i.e., Code Pink’s) at expense to others’ (i.e., military recruiters’) with which it does not agree. Years ago, Berkeley residents were seeking free speech freedoms to protest the Vietnam War and other things, and they were denied them by the government. Now they are denying the same to others.
If Berkeley were the bastion of liberality and supporter of free speech that it has long claimed to be, it would allow all free speech without restriction or preference-not just the types of free speech with which its City Council members agree. The City of Berkeley, its City Council and many Americans could use a lesson on speaking freely with tact, respect and consideration for others. Freely speak your mind as you have the right to. But be respectful to others when doing so whenever possible. As the Golden Rule dictates, you know you want to be respected even when others oppose you or what you believe in-so do the same for them.