In today’s social and political environment, the line between what is acceptable and what is not has become increasingly thin. This is especially true for people affiliated with American colleges and universities. In places that once used to be hotbeds for exchanging and debating different ideologies, there is now a fear amongst mainly conservative students that their ideas will be labeled as racist and hate speech, regardless of their intentions.
On July 5, junior Hayley Fleischer posted a picture of herself on Instagram wearing a shirt that read “#ALL LIVES MATTER” over an American flag colored map of the United States. The post has received over 750 likes and 6,000 comments, mostly in disagreement, but some in support. The backlash from Fleischer’s photo was so strong that it prompted a schoolwide email from President Denise Battles concerning anti-racism at Geneseo sent on July 8.
I had the opportunity to interview Fleischer over the phone to get her thoughts on the post and the Geneseo community’s response. Fleischer said she received over 200 direct messages after her controversial post hit Instagram. Some of the most shocking comments and messages, Fleischer said, included “you should kill yourself,” “your life doesn’t matter” and “you look killable.”
Fleischer claims that she also lost a few friends due to her post, which she did not expect beforehand. The mass email from Battles also came unexpectedly, as Fleischer said she was not contacted individually by anyone in the college’s administration before it was sent.
When I asked Fleischer if she believes that Geneseo stands for free speech and allows opposing views to be heard on campus, she gave a decisive assessment.
“Geneseo definitely has more liberal students, so I think that it can be difficult for anyone who disagrees to speak out because they feel that they will be attacked,” Fleischer said. “I don’t think the school itself suppresses free speech, but the students do.”
This hefty indictment of the student population at our liberal arts college is not only true, but also obvious. Instead of disagreeing with her post and trying to have a discussion, some students have condemned this person, and like an angry mob, tried to get her disciplined by the school. Many didn’t even bother to ask simple questions such as “why wear the shirt?” or “what does ‘All Lives Matter’ actually mean?” The easier route was to cancel her immediately.
Of course, Fleischer was not disciplined as some may have wished because the school has no grounds to do this. There is still a legal system in place that protects her right to free speech even if others disagree with her statement. As a college, however, we need to be better.
It quickly became apparent during my discussion with Fleischer that she is not an ignorant racist who should be demonized, but rather a human being with an alternate viewpoint. She, like hopefully all of us at Geneseo, believes that Black lives do matter. Her qualms with the movement are not against the goal of racial equality, but instead the tactics and political agenda that have become synonymous with it.
Whether or not we believe that the phrase “All Lives Matter” is an ignorant criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement, we cannot silence the voices of those we disagree with. Silencing opposition only gives rise to more division, resentment and anger on both sides of an issue.
In the age of cancel culture, Geneseo needs to uphold civility, especially when dealing with issues like racial inequality.