Skidmore Scope Magazine Annual Edition for 2017

29 SKIDMORE COLLEGE Rights at risk? With the demonization of political opponents and the delegitimization of the press, the left and the right both feel aggrieved, and at the extremes there is little interest in evidence or reflection. Right now, institutional protections of speech seem to be holding up, but working toward evidence-based politics, accommodation, and compromise feels a little like bringing a knife to a gunfight. — pat oles It feels as though we—whether we are on the left, the right, or somewhere in between—can- not speak freely without being shouted down, fired, ostracized, disciplined, misunderstood, disapproved of, called a racist, or called a communist. We no longer have even a veneer of common ground on which we can have a reasonable discussion or disagreement. And this is a threat to democratic discourse. — jennifer delton I don’t believe that First Amendment rights are being impinged upon today more than at any other point in recent history. But I think Americans have had to quickly reckon with the fact that these freedoms are not passive: we have to use them or risk losing them. — juleyka lantigua-williams Trump’s lies are routinely rebutted and cor- rected by journalists and by other politicians. Though a great many Americans live within a reality constructed for them by Fox News and other such media outlets, we have reason to believe that our First Amendment freedoms will be vigorously defended—by people like ourselves — in the event that they come under further assault. — robert boyers I see at least three realms to evaluate: 1) Are people exercising their rights to free speech? Yes, and in new and creative ways. The Black Lives Matter protests, for example, focused on disrup- tive actions like holding die-ins in malls or shutting down highways. 2) Has the law changed with respect to speech or press rights? Not yet. We can anticipate legal challenges, but I think the courts will stand strong on this issue. 3) Has