I’m writing to respond to an article that was published this week titled “Ernst town hall, an example of growing conflict on college campuses.” While there is no doubt that the political climate of late is more divided than it has been in recent memory, the argument that certain expressions of First Amendment rights are more appropriate than others is dangerous. If protection of free speech is unequal, it is not protected at all.

The sentence in the article I found most disturbing was: “The cognitive dissonance on college campuses has become so extreme that anyone with an opposing view is violated of their right to free speech in fear of being attacked by those who can’t distinguish words from actual physical harm.”

This sentence shows a basic ignorance of what freedom of speech is. As Justice William Brennan said in New York Times v. Sullivan, the right is “a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.” The assumption that an expression of differing views will result in enough harm or discomfort that the author feels they cannot speak is precisely the inability to distinguish words from actual physical harm. I expect that Sen. Joni Ernst was fully aware some of her constituents would show up upset. It is a testament to our Constitution that they have the right to do so, and part of Ernst’s military service was to defend that very right.

RELATED: Jaimes: Ernst town hall an example of growing conflict on college campuses

Of course, the atmosphere at the town hall here and those around the country has not been as calm and civil as a classroom, but to expect that people who show up to protest policies that have a direct effect on the literal livelihood of themselves and their loved ones (health care, immigration, and others) to be calm and unemotional underscores the place of privilege from which the author writes. Citizens have no reason to protest this passionately unless they are suffering, and the explosion of protests around the country highlights both how many Americans are currently suffering and how unheard they feel.

The First Amendment affords citizens the right to speak their mind at any volume, with as much anger or passion as they may feel. Instead of focusing on the discomfort that these methods of expression may elicit, it may be more worthwhile to understand what drives the passion with which people are showing up.

It is this understanding that facilitates fruitful discussion.

— Tom Rigg

University of Iowa
College of Education
Counseling Psychology Ph.D. student