J.K. Rowling is one of the most prominent liberals in the literary world. She has often made her opinions known through her support of liberal causes, both in what she says, and how much she donates. While we here at The New Guard disagree with her on pretty much every other ideological issue, on free speech, she’s speaking our language. While speaking at Pen America’s Annual Literary Gala, the famed author of the Harry Potter Series came out in full support of an individual’s right to free speech. Rowling remarked, “If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed a line to stand alongside tyrants who imprison, torture and kill on exactly the same justifications.” At Young America’s Foundation, we believe that your right to free speech is one of the most sacred of all. The Founders wouldn’t have put it in the very first amendment if they didn’t feel the same. George Washington once said, “If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” In a world where college students across the globe believe that you should not be able to say things that are perceived as offensive to others, it is vitally important that people with influence among millennials, such as Rowling, fight back whole-heartedly.
