Word: townsendized
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Despite protests from fellow students who saw the flags as symbols of slavery and oppression, neither Kerrigan nor McCormack budged. So Jacinta T. Townsend '92, a Cabot House resident, decided to hang a swastika from her window, hoping that the University would compel her to remove it. Then, she thought, the University would also have to force Kerrigan and McCormack to remove their flags...
...University has remained silent, and rightly so. Much as Townsend would like them to, the Confederate flags--and her swastika--do not fall beyond the limits of constitutionally protected free speech. University rules, of course, technically ban students to hang anything from their windows except plain white curtains. But since the University has taken no action against students who display everything from the U.N. banner to the American flag to HRO advertisements, it's hard to imagine that the administration could force the removal of the flags and the swastika...
...brouhaha over the flags and the swastika an issue of sensitivity, not free speech. Kerrigan and McCormack claim they are not trying to offend anyone by publicly displaying their flags. But they do offend many students who cannot help but associate the Stars and Bars with slavery and oppression. Townsend's response to their insensitivity is equally insensitive. All three have espoused lofty principles. But none of them seem to care about their fellow students' feelings...
Members of the Harvard community should constantly remind Kerrigan and McCormack that their Confederate flag stands for much more than Southern pride. They should tell Townsend that there are better ways to react to a Confederate flag than to offend members of a fellow minority group. The Black Students Association and Hillel did just that, issuing a joint statement condemning the symbols and deftly avoiding an unnecessary Black-Jewish confrontation over the issue...
...dose of free speech will cause all the world's Confederate flags and swastikas to come tumbling down. But vigorous debate just might do the job at Harvard, if members of the Harvard community follow the lead of the BSA and Hillel in helping those like Kerrigan, McCormack and Townsend understand how a symbol can hurt...