What does all of this mean？ It means that telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say， so telling us what to do can’t be far behind. Before you claim to be a champion of free thought， tell me： Why did political correctness originate on America‘s campuses？ And why do you continue to tolerate it？ Why do you， who’re supposed to debate ideas， surrender to their suppression？
Let‘s be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe？ It scares me to death， and should scare you too， that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason. You are the best and the brightest. You， here in the fertile cradle of American academia， here in the castle of learning on the Charles River， you are the cream. But I submit that you， and your counterparts across the land， are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that ... and abide it ... you are-by your grandfathers’standards- cowards.
Here‘s another example. Right now at more than one major university， Second Amendment scholars and researchers are being told to shut up about their findings or they’ll lose their jobs. Why？ Because their research findings would undermine big-city mayor‘s pending lawsuits that seek to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from firearm manufacturers. I don’t care what you think about guns. But if you are not shocked at that， I am shocked at you. Who will guard the raw material of unfettered ideas， if not you？ Who will defend the core value of academia， if you supposed soldiers of free thought and expression lay down your arms and plead，“Don‘t shoot me.”
If you talk about race， it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders， it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination， it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don’t celebrate homosexuality， it does not make you a homophobe. Don‘t let America’s universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism.
B ut w ha t c a n y o u do ？ Ho w c a n a ny o ne pre v a i l a g a i nst suc h pervasive social subjugation？ The answer‘s been here all along. I learned it 36 years ago， on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial inWashington D.C.， standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people. You simply ... disobey. Peaceably， yes. Respectfully， of course. Nonviolently， absolutely. But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave， we don’t. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom. I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King ... who learned it from Gandhi， and Thoreau， and Jesus， and every other great men who led those in the right against those with the might. Disobedience is in our DNA. We feel innate kinship with that disobedient spirit that tossed tea into Boston Harbor， that sent Thoreau to jail， that refused to sit in the back of the bus， that protested a war in Vietnam. In that same spirit， I am asking you to disavow cultural correctness with massive disobedience of rogue authority， social directives and onerous laws that weaken personal freedom. But be careful ... it hurts. Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk. Dr. King stood on lots of balconies. You must be willing to be humiliated ... to endure the modern-day equivalent of the police dogs at Montgomery and the water cannons at Selma. You must be willing to experience discomfort. I‘m not complaining， but my own decades of social activism have taken their toll on me.
Let me tell you a story. A few years back I heard about a rapper named Ice-T who was selling a CD called“Cop Killer”celebrating ambushing and murdering police officers. It was being marketed by none other than Time/ Warner， the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world. Police across the country were outraged. Rightfully so-at least one had been murdered. But Time/Warner was stonewalling because the CD was a cash cow for them， and the media were tiptoeing around it because the rapper was black. I heard Time/Warner had a stockholders meeting scheduled in Beverly Hills. I ownedsome shares at the time， so I decided to attend. What I did there was against the advice of my family and colleagues. I asked for the floor. To a hushed room of a thousand average American stockholders， I simply read the full lyrics of“Cop Killer”- every vicious， vulgar， instructional word.“I GOT MY 12 GAUGE SAWED OFF. I GOT MY HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF. I’M ABOUT TO BUST SOME SHOTS OFF. I‘M ABOUT TO DUST SOME COPS OFF ... “.
It got worse， a lot worse. I won’t read the rest of it to you. But trust me， the room was a sea of shocked， frozen， blanched faces. The Time/Warner executives squirmed in their chairs and stared at their shoes. They hated me for that. Then I delivered another volley of sick lyric brimming with racist filth， where Ice-T fantasizes about sodomizing two 12-year old nieces of Al and Tipper Gore.”SHE PUSHED HER BUTT AGAINST MY ....“Well，I won‘t do to you here what I did to them. Let’s just say I left the room in echoing silence. When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps， one of them said”We can‘t print that.“”I know，“I replied，”but Time/Warner’s selling it.“Two months later， Time/Warner terminated Ice-T‘s contract. I’ll never be offered another film by Warner‘s， or get a good review from Time magazine. But disobedience means you must be willing to act， not just talk.
