Free Speech at the Grammys

Predictable controversy triggered by self-proclaimed liberals emerged just before the 43rd Grammy Awards earlier this year when Marshall B. Mathers III, better known as Eminem, received four award nominations. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) was "outraged." The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) expressed its strong disapproval. Michael Greene, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, received thousands of phone calls in protest.

Yet what is liberalism if not the idea of acceptance both of ideas and of individuals--acceptance of those with whom we agree and disagree? It is the protection of freedom of expression. But more than that, it is the celebration of the individual as an individual, the glorification of the whole as a sum of distinct (and sometimes opposing) parts. It is the right to engage in dialogue, disagreement and debate--not to inflict homogeneity or favor according to political correctness.

When NSVRC and GLAAD criticize Eminem verbally, they, like Eminem, are expressing their right to free speech, but when they advocate the rescinding of Eminem's Grammy nominations or urge the withdrawal of MTV's network endorsement of Eminem, they are restricting his freedom of expression. The agenda of the groups is no more valid in the eyes of the First Amendment than Eminem's.

Therefore, when these supposedly liberal organizations try to restrict the rights of artists such as Eminem, they gag on their own hypocrisy. Ironically, Eminem is a poster-boy of modern liberalism. Organizations such as NSVRC or GLAAD are in effect saying that the public is too stupid to form an intelligent (read: correct) view on the subject, so it needs to be protected. Meanwhile, Eminem upholds his freedom, even in his lyrics: "Cuz every time I want a rhyme/these people think it's a crime/to tell 'em what's on my mind--I guess I'm a criminal."

There is no question that Eminem's lyrics are filled with explicit language, homophobia, misogyny and violence. I advocate none of these and, in fact, wholeheartedly disapprove. However, emerging from radio waves saturated with cookie-cutter pop songs, Eminem is refreshing. He is not trying to make you feel good. He is not in love. He is not apologizing for anything. In fact, he seems to hate everyone equally, with the possible exception of his toddler daughter, Hailie.

In many interviews, Eminem has suggested that his lyrics should not be taken seriously. But the debate is not about agreement or disagreement with his attitudes or politics. It is about his right to rant about whatever he wants to rant about. Or perhaps the First Amendment applies only to "liberal" organizations like NSVRC and GLAAD?

--Emma R.F. Nothmann