For Miss New Jersey contestant Justine Murray, it's censorship -- and she made it known in a passionate response to a judge's question during the Miss New Jersey pageant at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.
The beauty queen, a booking producer with One America News, was asked by the judge to identify her generation's "most important" issue and explain why.
Murray, who is the reigning Miss Northern Highlands, didn't hesitate to answer.
"Our generation is experiencing an epidemic of censorship and entitlement," she said. "It's because our professors and our celebrities are teaching students to be narcissists, to believe that any view that differs from their own is an existential threat."
She also shared her experience of being censored on her own college campus.
The beauty queen said some people have taken censorship too far. "This is what I experienced on my own campus with censorship to the point where people believe that speech is violence so that they can threaten other people with violence, simply because they disagree with them," Murray said.
Miss NJ candidate's impassioned plea for free speech
Her fiery speech didn't end there. When asked for a social impact statement -- her priorities if she wins Miss New Jersey, and ultimately Miss America -- Murray chose to champion the importance of the First Amendment, which covers free speech.
The beauty queen said that free speech is listed first in the Bill of Rights for a reason. "Without it, all other liberties crumble," she said.
Murray, who calls herself the Anti-PC Pageant Queen on Twitter, decried how universities have now become battlegrounds for free speech. She also noted how political correctness has evolved, and worse, become weaponized.
"The mere words 'I'm offended' are now being used as an excuse to silence students, fire professors and cancel people simply because they do not tow the popular line of thought," said Murray.
She vowed to lend a voice to young women if she were to win Miss New Jersey, saying that she will empower young women "to stand up for what they believe in and become a voice to be reckoned with." Murray didn't win the competition – Alyssa Sullivan was crowned – but said that she would say her speech all over again if given a chance.
https://twitter.com/Justine_Brooke/status/1407108039530983424
Brandeis releases weird "oppressive language" list
In Massachusetts, the Prevention, Advocacy and Resource Center at Brandeis University recently published the "Oppressive Language List," which forces students to refrain from saying words or phrases that others may deem offensive. This development underscored Murray's point in her speech.
Words included in the list are policeman, crazy and walk-in. It also includes trigger warning, a phrase often associated with the Left.
PARC classifies its so-called oppressive language into five categories – violent language, identity-based language, language that doesn't say what we mean, culturally appropriative language and person-first alternatives. (Related: Facebook's deliberate censorship of alternative news is nothing compared to Wikipedia's censorship of alternative medicine.)
For instance, the list flags the pronouns she and he and suggests using "they." Other examples include using BIPOC – black, indigenous and people of color – instead of saying "people of color"; saying picnic when the proper term is "outdoor eating"; or using policeman instead of "police officer."
According to PARC, the list aims to remove "oppressive" language from everyday use. The site also asks students to add more words to the list. "What suggestion do you have for our Oppressive Language List? Personal reasons are more than welcome and if you have any other sources, that too," it said.
Censorship.news has more stories on how free speech is in danger in the U.S.
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