A near-capacity Michael D. Rose Theatre crowd greeted Ben Shapiro, controversial conservative speaker and editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, with cheers, applause and chants of “USA” Wednesday afternoon for the Memphis stop of his lecture series “How the Left Assaults your Rights.”
Shapiro talked about issues pertaining to the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation, first amendment freedoms, second amendment rights, healthcare and much more. He started the event with a 30-minute lecture on how the Democratic Party attempts to take away the rights of United States citizens and followed that by accepting questions from the audience.
“Freedom of speech is oppressed,” Shapiro said in his initial monologue. “The Left is not interested in protecting freedom of speech, so long as that freedom of speech is applied to people with whom they disagree.”
He mentioned that college campuses have a history of silencing free speech — particularly conservative speech.
“If I have hurt your feelings in a certain way, than it is as if I have done violence to you,” Shapiro said. “I spoke at (the University of California) Berkeley, and they required 600 police officers so that I could speak at Berkeley ... There were literally people outside chanting ‘Speech is Violence.’”
Shapiro’s appearance at the University of Memphis mustered zero protesters of that kind, something that Jocelynn Jordan, president of the U of M chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), the organization that brought Shapiro to Memphis, said stemmed from the lack of political activism in this region versus regions like California.
“We’re just a different community, a different environment — we’re not a particularly politically active campus, not saying that’s good or bad, but it is,” Jordan, a senior political science major, said. “I don’t think individuals are heated on either side, which is nice because I didn’t want any problems.”
Jordan said she did not get pushback from students or administration about Shapiro coming to speak on campus. She said she agrees with “about 98 percent” of what he says.
“I think his views on the transgender community are very unique in itself,” Jordan said. “I definitely think that he makes you think about it, he makes you second guess, and he makes you want to know more. But that’s just not an area that I’m very informed on.”
Ryan Pierce, president of the U of M College Democrats, praised YAF for bringing Shapiro and how well the event went, although he said he does not fully agree with what Shapiro says.
“I strongly oppose what he says, but I do respect his right to say it,” Pierce, a sophomore political science and economics major, said. “Never incendiary language, never inflammatory rhetoric. He’s not very Trump-esque, I would say. He’s very eloquent. I respect him as an intellectual.”
Pierce echoed the thought that there were no protests on the U of M campus because the community here is not too politically active, and the citizens in Memphis do not have as much on the line as a diverse state like California.
“Most college campuses have traditionally been liberal post-Civil Right Movement,” Pierce said. “I don’t think the distortion is to suppress speech. With that said, it doesn’t make that distortion right. It doesn’t make it fair. He should have every opportunity to speak wherever he wants to speak.”
The mostly supportive crowd sent Shapiro off stage the same way they greeted him initially: with cheers and applause. Jordan said YAF is looking into bringing Allie Beth Stuckey, a popular conservative millennial speaker, on campus in the near future.
Controversial conservative speaker and editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire Ben Shapiro (left) speaks to a crowded Rose Theatre audience Wednesday afternoon. Shapiro, who was brought to campus by the University of Memphis chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (president Jocelynn Jordan on bottom right), spoke about issues of free speech and divisive political rhetoric.
Controversial conservative speaker and editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire Ben Shapiro (left) speaks to a crowded Rose Theatre audience Wednesday afternoon. Shapiro, who was brought to campus by the University of Memphis chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (president Jocelynn Jordan on bottom right), spoke about issues of free speech and divisive political rhetoric.
