Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Denied From Speaking at University of St. Thomas

Can someone please explain what is happening to free speech in this country? When a Noble Peace Prize winner is disinvited to speak at an American University because he said something that made some people uncomfortable, we're in trouble.

2 comments:

RazRocks said...

I don't know why people would not want to hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. I read the book "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton, and we learned about Tutu and his beliefs. I feel that when it comes to South Africa and apartheid, Nelson Mandela gets much of the spotlight, and not Archbishop Tutu.

-Raz

P.S. Me and Jok missed you last Friday, but we pulled out 2 victories for you. Unfortunately we will both be at OSU this weekend, so I hope you can win a few for us! Good luck!

Philip Metres said...

The rub of this new thing, of course, is that when Tutu speaks out about the Middle East, his words about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza are suggestive of the argument that Israel is practicing a kind of apartheid (which, literally, means "separation"). Tutu is a man of peace, and real peace-builders believe that peace cannot come without a modicum of justice. Implicit in his words is that Palestinians have yet to receive justice from Israel (and, also, of course, from the Arab world and the rest of us).