Islam, free speech and Enloe

Learning from an anti-Muslim presentation at a public high school

RALEIGH -- The uproar about Kamil Solomon's appearance at Enloe High School, where he gave a speech and distributed literature hostile to Islam, may be a good thing.

Although as a professor teaching Islam I am certainly not happy to hear of the kinds of materials the students were given, time was when such a talk would have been acceptable, even unremarkable. So I hope that the outcry indicates two things.

First, I hope it indicates a rising knowledge among non-Muslims in the region that, like all other faiths, Islam has a variety of adherents, most of whom reject fanaticism, terrorism and hate. Indeed, many parents and students spoke up against the talk's content.

Second, the reaction from the local and national Muslim communities was swift, offering concrete responses and a clear denunciation both of the speaker and the kind of extremist Muslims that Solomon had described. This coordinated and direct action by individuals and groups such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) may represent an increasing efficacy in countering negative stereotypes about Islam.

Perhaps I overestimate the growing awareness of average citizens about Islam. It is true that Solomon's Web site contains numerous comments he claims were sent in support of his view that most terrorists are Muslim, and of his warning to girls not to marry Muslim men. Yet letters to the editor and the coverage on local news and radio focused less on the actual claims made by the speaker -- patently false -- and more on the question of free speech in the schools. Are students in an assembly or classroom a captive audience and therefore unable to exercise their own freedom of expression? The fact that much of the debate centered on the free speech issue, rather than the inflammatory material itself, is hopeful.

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Promoting free speech does not mean we abdicate moral judgment. It does require us to engage opposing views productively, learning from each incident when our shared public space becomes less comfortable.

Although I do not believe this speaker was appropriate or informative, as citizens high school students must learn how to interact with and evaluate a range of positions, and should not be exposed only to individuals with whom they agree.

In my own classrooms I am concerned that students should gain both critical thinking skills and knowledge about the course content. Still, I do not invite people to speak knowing that they will present inaccurate or incendiary material. There is little to be learned from such an event, and much potential for harm.

I do not know how prepared the Enloe students were to make sound judgments about the quality and veracity of the talk. I hope that if nothing else the controversy will ensure that they will hear balancing voices and be better able to draw their own conclusions.

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The role of the local and national Islamic organizations that have become involved is an interesting and important development. In recent years we have heard a repeated demand for the voices of "moderate Islam" to speak out against extremists. Yet when mainstream Muslims do speak out, it is rarely deemed newsworthy. Although "Islam" has no single voice, the Muslims who addressed this incident include just the kind of mainstream, regular people concerned about their place in American society that many media pundits and non-Muslim citizens claim to be seeking.

Too often Muslim voices denouncing terrorism are not heard outside of Muslim circles. Sometimes this is a problem of language, sometimes a question of access. It is not because such denunciations have not been made -- they were either not heard or ignored. Indeed, while CAIR is accused by some of being an apologist for terrorism, its role in organizing and publicizing a legal ruling or fatwa against terrorism endorsed by well over 300 national organizations, mosques and clerics is rarely heralded.

That fatwa against terrorism came out in July 2005, yet many non-Muslims still seem unaware of its existence.

The fact that in the Enloe case the voices of local and national Muslims were heard may indicate increased skill in negotiating the system and, I hope, that the system is learning to hear and represent their voices. Muslim groups and individuals were widely quoted in the news media and publicly offered their services (as have I) to the school to provide programming that will help give the students the materials they need to make sound judgments of their own.

I hope that Enloe will avail itself of these opportunities, and that other schools will use this unfortunate event as a chance to develop students' capacities for critical thinking about the issues that are essential to the growth of responsible, informed citizens.

(Anna Bigelow is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at N.C. State University.)