In November of 2008, the United States elected the first African American president, Barack Obama. Although racism is a thing of the past, people today still have different views on African Americans. That being said, when Obama was elected, it caused uproar in some communities, NC state being one of them. As we all know, everyone has their right to freedom of speech says the first amendment; therefore, people began to say inappropriate things in regards to the situation. At NC State University, students wrote racist comments referring to Obama on a walkway in the middle of campus called the “free expression tunnel”, made for students to express ideas using graffiti. NC State quickly painted over the harsh comments and chose not to press …show more content…
One should not have to feel unwanted or downgraded because of their ethnicity while they are paying thousands of dollars to get a good education to set them up for success in life. Since the graffiti did not communicate any true threats of fighting words, it would be considered offensive speech/ profanity. Offensive speech/ profanity is protected under the first amendment, which it makes it hard for school systems to ban this type of behavior. Subsequently, I believe that this should not stand since the government funds it and everyone is paying for the schools through taxes. Nonetheless, it should not even have to be a law to not express racism; people should have the audacity and respect to know better than to say those things. Essentially, racism has not ended in today’s society. I cannot seem to grasp the concept that someone could downgrade someone for something that does not define him or her as a person. I think this rule would be very beneficial in the university systems and help end social tension between the students who attend the