Speech Should Be Free, But Not Cheap

Once words are spoken, you can't get them back. In biblical times, speech conveyed power. In the book of Genesis, for example, Jacob tricked his father Isaac into pronouncing an eternal blessing. Once Isaac had spoken, there was no getting it back. For better and for worse, words change things.

I believe in free speech, but I also believe that our speech should be worth expressing. Unfortunately, words seem to matter very little in our public life. Many of the debates over freedom of speech in Richmond have focused on fringe groups trying to grab the spotlight. The World Church of the Creator, a white supremacist hate group, met at a Chesterfield library, and the Ku Klux Klan marches from time to time. It is their right, and it is the right of the rest of us to protest.

On a different note, recently we debated whether a strip club owner could post a sign against a Shockoe Bottom stadium. He got so much attention that you might have thought he was a speech exhibitionist.

Politicians in the commonwealth too often fail to respect their adversaries. A public official once accused Gov. Tim Kaine of "cozying up" to terrorists because he reached out to some Muslims who are also Virginia citizens. The shenanigans have just begun in the current gubernatorial election. Why do we reduce political campaigns to sound bites and flag pins?

We need fuller public expression of diverse perspectives. Our families and religious and educational institutions -- which are all "schools of virtue" -- can teach citizens how to do this.

So it is an outrage that Jerry Falwell Jr. would shut down the young Democrats at Liberty University. What kind of liberty is that? James Madison, Virginia's greatest defender of free speech, understood Christian faith better than most theologians. He knew that when conscience is coerced, it allows no true commitment. Rather than shutting down debate, political and religious leaders must trust in their followers.

In turn, citizens must heed the call to make their words and commitments count. In the Commentary section a few months ago, my colleague John Moeser called upon Metro Richmond residents to unite -- to mutiny -- if our leaders don't set the good ship Richmond on a meaningful course. I have since received a number of e-mails, phone calls, and even one formal summons (in Olde English calligraphy, nonetheless) drafting me into this mutiny. Even though he is no pirate, John Moeser is right: We need civic engagement.

What should this look like? It will certainly require more than "free speech" in the sense of gratuitous declarations and demonstrations. I am often astounded by many Richmonders who feel a sense of impunity to utter insults at our leaders. The open disdain sometimes directed at City of Richmond officials in particular is troubling. This is espe cially so because most of the criticisms -- against The Sixth Street Marketplace, Main Street Station, and even the annexation of 1970 -- predate our current leaders by years or decades. We should declare this tone of talking about each other to be out of order.

We need to utter words worthy of our community. Thomas E. McCollough Jr., a retired professor of ethics at Duke, summarized his approach to public life with one question: "What is my personal relation to what I know?"McCollough asks whether and how citizens will be accountable for what they believe. Will we take responsibility to act for good? Will we voice our disagreements with respect? Or will we spout off jeremiads without any concern for the consequences?

It is a good thing for people to gather together and air their views in public forums like the 25th

Times-Dispatch Public Square on Tuesday. The very act of exercising free speech is a reminder that we value that right. Still, people know they are most likely to gain attention by making incendiary or outlandish remarks.

Alongside such structured events, we need more spontaneous, personal conversations among friends, co-workers, and neighbors about what we genuinely care about for Richmond. When we hear a remark that demeans leaders, or discounts promising efforts before they have a chance to succeed, or disparages fellow citizens, we should speak up.

For the past five years I have been a part of the University of Richmond's Bonner Center for Civic Engagement. I wish I could say that we have by now achieved a new campus culture in which students and faculty regularly sit down and talk about Richmond's civic challenges, successes, and opportunities. I cannot.

Yet I do believe that our focus on mutual, sustained partnerships with community organizations has begun to transform campus culture. The university, like the City of Richmond and our metro region, has a lot to work on. Let us increasingly engage one another as worthy and respected neighbors.

Douglas A. Hicks is the outgoing executive director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond. In the fall he returns full-time to the faculty of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Contact him at