I am writing this in response to the Feb. 25 Reflector editorial “Poor Review: Company’s new feature paints a messy picture.”
I agree wholeheartedly that The Review’s write-up was, at best, incendiary hearsay and unsubstantiated opinion. But as unpopular as this may sound, though anyone may question the factual content of another person’s statement, if it is in fact opinion. You cannot question that it is what that person meant to say or that it is valuable.
This is a fundamental truth of philosophy. If you say that you believe something, I cannot tell you that you do not, regardless of whether I believe what you’ve said to be true.
The opinions expressed anonymously by students are valuable because they are some students’ opinions. If there are people who feel strongly enough to say that, “blacks and whites do not get along on the MSU campus,” it doesn’t mean that we’re about to have a race riot, but it might mean that someone has had a bad experience in their academic career due to racial tensions.
The university has already spoken its collective administrative mind about the inaccuracies they believe were included in The Review’s report. That’s how the process works. Everyone has a right to say what is on her mind, whether or not it’s popular. I have personally talked to people who have either shared or reviled every opinion expressed in The Review’s article. The article may not reveal the whole truth of the situation, but it does give valuable information what the students who said them actually believe that they wouldn’t have been willing to say without anonymity.
I think the fundamental problem here is that anonymous records of opinions are a necessity here in the South. Good ole boy politics is not just something that happens on black and white movies that make us all look like hicks that don’t wear shoes. It’s a sociological construct ingrained in our culture. If someone does something to tick off a group or individual, it will most likely be remembered. If someone helps out a group or individual, it will most likely be rewarded. It has been proven through psychological trials that people are prone to change their opinions to match those around them, even if they perceive the collective opinion to be wrong. That is not a Southern thing; it’s a humanity thing.
Our desire for belonging and relationship can serve as a watchdog for what we say, even if we feel strongly that we should say it. If it takes random, anonymously recorded, but philosophically valid, opinions in order for the university leadership and the student body to have a complete perspective on how things are perceived to work at MSU, then yay free speech.
Let’s all remember that the heckler’s veto is not a valid defense against speech that someone may find unpopular.
Jonathan Cartrette is a senior electrical engineering major.