A crowd of students, faculty, and parents from all across the political spectrum cheer and applaud as Bradley Devlin, the secretary of Berkeley College Republicans, finishes his regards and Ben Shapiro takes the stage.
For a brief moment the crowd falls silent and if you listen, you can hear the resonance of ANTIFA’s screams from behind the barriers that line the perimeter of campus. Then it begins “Thank you. If only the administration had allowed us to fill the rest of these seats,” says Ben Shapiro, our featured speaker. This is the third time I’ve heard Ben Shapiro speak and his witty sense of humor never fails to entertain. Ben’s unmatched ability to craft arguments against mainstream leftist views is what we all come to the event for, but the humor is what makes us remember it.
Rewind to a few hours before the event; I just got out of class and headed down to Lower Sproul Plaza to pick up my volunteer pass. Lower Sproul was marked with derogatory statements that oversimplify the ideals of the American Right such as “Nazis go home,” “We won’t stand for fascism,” and a large sign in the Multicultural Center window that reads, “We say no to your white supremacist bullshit.” Shapiro commented on this in his speech stating, “Thank you, because I also say no to white supremacist bull shit. If you stick around long enough in this speech you will hear exactly that. The problem you have with me is that I also say no to your identity politics bullshit.”
I’m satisfied with the fact that he addressed the sign in a positive way; however, the meaning of that sign was to associate Shapiro’s speech with white supremacy. I was taken aback by the fact that the administration would allow comments that slander the nature of this event in a space dedicated to promoting diversity. Regardless, from the moment I walked through Lower Sproul Plaza that morning I realized how serious this event was and had genuinely no idea what to expect in terms of opposition later that night. I was at the venue early enough that I didn’t see the protesters speaking out against the event first hand and before the official start of the event, it was recommended I remain inside the venue for my own safety.
Then the speech began. As someone who has studied conservative politics for years, I was just as anxious and excited to hear Shapiro speak as I was the previous two times. For specifics on his speech I recommend everyone watch it—the live stream was public and is now posted on many sites.
I am of course writing from a conservative viewpoint which has inherent biases, as Shapiro is a conservative speaker, and therefore encourage people to watch the speech first hand and draw their own conclusions.
Shapiro, as passionately as ever, began by denouncing the notion that he is a fascist and/or a white supremacist, citing the fact that he has “been spending his entire career standing up against fascism and the idea of an overreaching government that uses the power of a gun in order to compel people to do what they want.”
Also, I think it’s relatively self-evident that Shapiro is not a white supremacist as he is an Orthodox-Jew, one of the primary targets of said white supremacists. Which is why “In 2016,” according to the Anti Defamation League, “Shapiro was the number recipient of anti-Semitism on the internet.”
Moving forward, Shapiro discussed the fact that the violent actions taken by groups such as ANTIFA and the Alt-Right is absolutely unacceptable. He then thanked people on the left who have condemned the actions of ANTIFA, such as Nancy Pelosi, who Shapiro disagrees with on virtually everything else. Shapiro discussed numerous other topics such as income inequality, institutional racism, intersectionality, and microaggression. He also took questions and actively engaged in discussion with people he disagreed with after the speech.
The main thing that resonated with me was that responding to an individual’s opinion with violence or censorship is absolutely unacceptable. The actions of ANTIFA and the Alt-Right are driving forces of political polarization. Our priority, above all else, is the preservation of free speech and the ability to have intellectually-driven political discussion.
As somebody who always has been and will be outspoken about their political views, my parents were genuinely concerned about my safety in not only attending this event but attending U.C. Berkeley in general. Students in a place of higher education should NEVER have a genuine fear that their beliefs will be met with violence.
As a proud new member of the Berkeley College Republicans, the intent of this event was to ensure free speech remains intact as an institution and that a wide range of opinions remain a part of that institution.
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