[Stringer]

Charlton Heston passed away this week, I found this speech that he gave to a Harvard graduating class a few years ago. His thoughts are pungent, do you agree with him?

By: Charlton Heston Article Font Size

The following is a speech NRA President Charlton Heston gave to the Harvard Law School Forum on February 16, 1999.

"I remember my son when he was five, explaining to his kindergarten class what his father did for a living. "My Daddy," he said, "pretends to be people."

There have been quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old and New Testaments, a couple of Christian saints, generals of various nationalities and different centuries, several kings, three American presidents, a French cardinal and two geniuses, including Michelangelo. If you want the ceiling repainted I'll do my best. There always seems to be a lot of different fellows up here. I'm never sure which one of them gets to talk. Right now, I guess I'm the guy.

As I pondered our visit tonight, it struck me: If my Creator gave me the gift to connect you with the hearts and minds of those great men, then I want to use that same gift now to re-connect you with your own sense of liberty...your own freedom of thought...your own compass for what is right.

Dedicating the memorial at a Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said of America, "We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure."

Those words are true again. I believe that we are again engaged in a great civil war, a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart. I fear you no longer trust the pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you...the stuff that made this country rise from wilderness into the miracle that it is.

Let me back up. About a year ago I became president of the National Rifle Association, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. I ran for office, I was elected, and now I serve...I serve as a moving target for the media who've called me everything from "ridiculous" and "duped" to a "brain-injured senile, crazy old man." I know...I'm pretty old...but I sure Lord ain't senile.

As I have stood in the crosshairs of those who target Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized that firearms are not the only issue. No, it's much, much bigger than that.

I've come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated.

For example, I marched for civil rights with Dr. King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist.

I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe.

I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite.

Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh.

From Time magazine to friends and colleagues, they're essentially saying, "Chuck, how dare you speak your mind. You are using language not authorized for public consumption!"

But I am not afraid. If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys - subjects bound to the British crown.

In his book, "The End of Sanity," Martin Gross writes that "blatantly irrational behavior is rapidly being established as the norm in almost every area of human endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new rules, new anti-intellectual theories regularly foisted on us from every direction.

Underneath, the nation is roiling. Americans know something without a name is undermining the nation, turning the mind mushy when it comes to separating truth from falsehood and right from wrong. And they don't like it."

Let me read a few examples.

• At Antioch College in Ohio, young men seeking intimacy with a coed must get verbal permission at each step of the process from kissing to petting to final copulation...all clearly spelled out in a printed college directive.

• In New Jersey, despite the death of several patients nationwide who had been infected by dentists who had concealed their AIDS, the state commissioner announced that health providers who are HIV-positive need not...need not...tell their patients that they are infected.

• At William and Mary, students tried to change the name of the school team "The Tribe" because it was supposedly insulting to local Indians, only to learn that authentic Virginia chiefs truly like the name.

• In San Francisco, city fathers passed an ordinance protecting the rights of transvestites to cross-dress on the job, and for transsexuals to have separate toilet facilities while undergoing sex change surgery.

• In New York City, kids who don't speak a word of Spanish have been placed in bilingual classes to learn their three R's in Spanish solely because their last names sound Hispanic.

• At the University of Pennsylvania, in a state where thousands died at Gettysburg opposing slavery, the president of that college officially set up segregated dormitory space for black students.

Yeah, I know...that's out of bounds now. Dr. King said "Negroes." Jimmy Baldwin and most of us on the March said "black." But it's a no-no now.

For me, hyphenated identities are awkward...particularly "Native-American." I'm a Native American, for God's sake. I also happen to be a blood-initiated brother of the Miniconjou Sioux. On my wife's side, my grandson is a thirteenth generation native American...with a capital letter on "American."

Finally, just last month...David Howard, head of the Washington, D.C. Office of Public Advocate, used the word "niggardly" while talking to colleagues about budgetary matters. Of course, "niggardly" means stingy or scanty. But within days Howard was forced to publicly apologize and resign.

As columnist Tony Snow wrote: "David Howard got fired because some people in public employ were morons who (a) didn't know the meaning of niggardly, (b) didn't know how to use a dictionary to discover the meaning, and (c) actually demanded that he apologize for their ignorance."

What does all of this mean? It means that telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say, so telling us what to do can't be far behind.

Before you claim to be a champion of free thought, tell me: Why did political correctness originate on America's campuses? And why do you continue to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed to debate ideas, surrender to their suppression?

Let's be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe?

It scares me to death and should scare you too, that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason.

You are the best and the brightest. You, here in the fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River, you are the cream. But I submit that you, and your counterparts across the land, are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that...and abide it...you are - by your grandfathers' standards - cowards.

Here's another example. Right now at more than one major university, Second Amendment scholars and researchers are being told to shut up about their findings or they'll lose their jobs. Why? Because their research findings would undermine big-city mayors...pending lawsuits that seek to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from firearm manufacturers.

I don't care what you think about guns. But if you are not shocked at that, I am shocked at you. Who will guard the raw material of unfettered ideas, if not you? Who will defend the core value of academia, if you supposed soldiers of free thought and expression lay down your arms and plead, "Don't shoot me."

If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don't celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you a homophobe.

Don't let America's universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism.

But what can you do? How can anyone prevail against such pervasive social subjugation?

The answer's been here all along.

I learned it 36 years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people.

You simply...disobey.

Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely.

But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom.

I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King...who learned it from Gandhi, and Thoreau, and Jesus, and every other great man who led those in the right against those with the might.

Disobedience is in our DNA. We feel innate kinship with that disobedient spirit that tossed tea in to Boston Harbor, that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus, that protested a war in Viet Nam.

In that same spirit, I am asking you to disavow cultural correctness with massive disobedience of rogue authority, social directives and onerous law that weaken personal freedom.

But be careful...it hurts.

Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk. Dr. King stood on lots of balconies.

You must be willing to be humiliated...to endure the modern-day equivalent of the police dogs at Montgomery and the water cannons at Selma.

You must be willing to experience discomfort. I'm not complaining, but my own decades of social activism have taken their toll on me. Let me tell you a story.

A few years back I heard about a rapper named Ice-T who was selling a CD called "Cop Killer" celebrating ambushing and murdering police officers. It was being marketed by none other than Time/Warner, the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world.

Police across the country were outraged. Rightfully so - at least one had been murdered. But Time/warner was stonewalling because the CD was a cash cow for them, and the media were tiptoeing around it because the rapper was black.

I heard Time/Warner had a stockholders meeting scheduled in Beverly Hills. I owned some shares at the time and decided to attend.

What I did there was against the advice of my family and colleagues. I asked for the floor. To a hushed room of a thousand average American stockholders, I simply read the full lyrics of "Cop Killer" - every vicious, vulgar, instructional word.

"I GOT MY 12 GAUGE SAWED OFF

I GOT MY HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF

I'M ABOUT TO BUST SOME SHOTS OFF

I'M ABOUT TO DUST SOME COPS OFF... "

It got worse, a lot worse. I won't read the rest of it to you. But trust me, the room was a sea of shocked, frozen, blanched faces. The Time/Warner executives squirmed in their chairs and stared at their shoes. They hated me for that.

Then I delivered another volley of sick lyric brimming with racist filth, where Ice-T fantasizes about sodomizing two 12-year old nieces of Al and Tipper Gore.

"SHE PUSHED HER BUTT AGAINST MY... "

Well, I won't do to you here what I did to them. Let's just say I left the room in echoing silence. When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps, one of them said "We can't print that." "I know," I replied, "but Time/Warner's selling it."

Two months later, Time/Warner terminated Ice-T's contract. I'll never be offered another film by Warner, or get a good review from Time magazine. But disobedience means you must be willing to act, not just talk.

When a mugger sues his elderly victim for defending herself...jam the switchboard of the district attorney's office.

When your university is pressured to lower standards until 80% of the students graduate with honors...choke the halls of the board of regents.

When an 8-year-old boy pecks a girl's cheek on the playground and gets hauled into court for sexual harassment...march on that school and block its doorways.

When someone you elected is seduced by political power and betrays you...petition them, oust them, banish them.

When Time magazine's cover portrays millennium nuts as deranged, crazy Christians holding a cross as it did last month...boycott their magazine and the products it advertises.

So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobediences of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men, by God's grace, built this country.

If Dr. King were here, I think he would agree."

Thank you.

Charlton Heston

(Speech taken from Newsmax article.)

[Fr_Chuck]

A very great man, he will be missed.

[Stringer]

Yes he will Fr Chuck... not many left like him who said it the way he saw it and felt it.

[inthebox]

Awesome, thanks Stringer and the late Mr Heston.

[Stringer]

Awesome, thanks Stringer and the late Mr Heston.

He told it like it is... how many like him are around today?

[Galveston1]

I enjoyed the speech. We will have to continue to be plagued by this PC until we are willing to stand up and openly identify it for what it is. Steaming loads of bovine excrement!

[NeedKarma]

Which reminds me: Bush is a piece of sh*t. There, that's refreshing to be able to say it out loud.

[Stringer]

Which reminds me: Bush is a piece of sh*t. There, that's refreshing to be able to say it out loud.

Yes, I suppose that is what it means.

[Stringer]

I enjoyed the speech. We will have to continue to be plagued by this pc until we are willing to stand up and openly identify it for what it is. Steaming loads of bovine excrement!

Gal, for some of us older ones it can be like walking on ice sometimes. However the younger generation is being "trained"...

[excon]

Hello S:

My little sister lives in Berkeley, California - the birthplace of the free speech movement back in the 60's. Now, I can't say "fag" there.

excon

[NeedKarma]

Cigarette?

[Stringer]

Hello S:

My little sister lives in Berkeley, California - the birthplace of the free speech movement back in the 60's. Now, I can't say "fag" there.

excon

Ex, I think you and I are from the same generation my friend. We have seen many changes, not all of them have been good ones, have they?

Stringer

[frangipanis]

Great speech... I'm not American and think US gun laws are plain wrong because of the amount of damage they wreak, and which Australians would never find acceptable. I'm not certain what Charlton Heston's politics were exactly and from what I can gather would most likely have disagreed with the slant some of his arguments took, yet what a refreshingly nuanced and thought provoking example of free speech ~ it's enjoyable listening to anyone who expresses themselves that well and with so much passion. And yes, Charlton was absolutely right in pointing out the blatant stupidity of giving rappers like that any airplay.

The question remains as to what extent should we be protected from ourselves and who gets to say what's best for us? Within a democracy, I guess it can be argued that we vote for the person or political party who's ideology and policies most closely resembles our own...

[Stringer]

great speech... I'm not American and think US gun laws are plain wrong because of the amount of damage they wreak, and which Australians would never find acceptable. I'm not certain what Charlton Heston's politics were exactly and from what I can gather would most likely have disagreed with the slant some of his arguments took, yet what a refreshingly nuanced and thought provoking example of free speech ~ it's enjoyable listening to anyone who expresses themselves that well and with so much passion. And yes, Charlton was absolutely right in pointing out the blatant stupidity of giving rappers like that any airplay.

The question remains as to what extent should we be protected from ourselves and who gets to say what's best for us? Within a democracy, I guess it can be argued that we vote for the person or political party who's ideology and policies most closely resembles our own.....

Thanks frangipanis, I appreciate your thoughts and comments.

Some political correctness is blatantly wrong (rapper, case in point) and obvious while others are not quite so obvious, and still it continues to advance.

I am still making up my mind on a lot of issues, however the ideologies and policies of any country are probably defined by their particular history and circumstances. Sometimes in an effort to possibly correct any ills from their current or distant past they over react. And I think as by some of these examples from Mr. Heston some things have gone way too far.

A personal observation; I don't know exactly how this plays out in Australia however, have you noticed in almost all print, audio and certainly video commercials who the current "victim" seems to be? Take a moment to watch any commercial on TV that includes a male and a female...

When I see the male pretty much getting the "short" end of the stick over and over in these commercials, I have to conclude that it probably is because we have no organization of any type that would protest. And I don't think the company making the commercials would want a protest. What makes me feel bad is that little kids see the "daddy" presented as the "dumb" one. I don't know, does this play any factor in their overall opinion of daddy's? And does this sort of advertising in some small way play into supporting a strong family life?

I am tired tonight, it's been a long day and I may have gotten carried away a bit so take what you will from my comments and please let me know what you think.

On a personal note; reading his speech and along with the many years of watching him in interviews and movies you come to at least get to know the man a little. It is a shame that the man spent the final years with the illness that he had.

Stringer

[frangipanis]

A personal observation; I don't know exactly how this plays out in Australia however, have you noticed in almost all print, audio and certainly video commercials who the current "victim" seems to be? Take a moment to watch any commercial on TV that includes a male and a female.......

hi Stringer, and thanks for that. My own values tend to be a mish-mash of ideas so I can comfortably agree with parts of what Charlton Heston had to say, and differ in other respects. Different historical trajectories certainly play a part in determining cultural norms and values and its laws.

I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about re the above, but the 'victim' talk in Australia seems to have caused a flip in family law practices as men were often found to be financially and emotionally disadvantaged after divorce. Although I personally sympathise with men and was meticulous about wanting a fair and realistic outcome for both my ex and our family, as a result of current trends my life after separation and subsequent divorce settlement worked out much less favourably for me. It seems to me I may have paid the price for everyone else's past mistakes :) However, I feel much freer now and managed to become financially independent in the process (and secure), so am wanting to let it all go.

[Stringer]

hi Stringer, and thanks for that. My own values tend to be a mish-mash of ideas so I can comfortably agree with parts of what Charlton Heston had to say, and differ in other respects. Different historical trajectories certainly play a part in determining cultural norms and values and its laws.

I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about re the above, but the 'victim' talk in Australia seems to have caused a flip in family law practices as men were often found to be financially and emotionally disadvantaged after divorce. Although I personally sympathise with men and was meticulous about wanting a fair and realistic outcome for both my ex and our family, as a result of current trends my life after separation and subsequent divorce settlement worked out much less favourably for me. It seems to me I may have paid the price for everyone else's past mistakes :) However, I feel much freer now and managed to become financially independent in the process (and secure), so am wanting to let it all go.

Hi again frangipanis,

Sorry, I wasn't exactly clear last night, like I said it was a tough and really long day.
I am sorry that you had to go through all that, but glad that it worked out for you.

I think that you and I are probably in the same place as my personal opinions vary concerning this also. I guess part of my point was that today groups can and do have agendas and the media serves as a engine to achieve their purposes. And our children are like blank white boards, easily influenced. So I was exploring the thought that p c was being expanded by this engine.

I would love to visit Australia someday, from what I have read and seen on the History and Discovery Channels it would really be an experience.

Have a terrific day,
Stringer

[frangipanis]

I think that you and I are probably in the same place as my personal opinions vary concerning this also. I guess part of my point was that today groups can and do have agendas and the media serves as a engine to achieve their purposes. And our children are like blank white boards, easily influenced. So I was exploring the thought that p c was being expanded by this engine.

Hi Stringer, it's a gorgeous day here :)

I think we possibly do have a similar way of approaching political issues. I've found it doesn't tend to work if I try to convince someone of my point of view through sheer force (he who speaks loudest and longest and constantly repeats the same refrain gets heard), and p c can quickly stifle a conversation, rather than opening issues up for discussion. It's much more interesting when facts are used to substantiate arguments. And I think kids do well if they're taught to recognise different political mind-sets and can figure out how to find quality research material that offers varied points of view.

There are parts of the US that look amazing compared to what we're used to here in Australia by the way - and generally speaking, I've mostly found Americans to be big hearted with good intentions.

[Stringer]

That was very kind of you and I appreciate it.

Not to get off the subject, but many judge America and Americans by the news (awful news sells) or by the TV or movies produced here. What a shame, if more only used some of your common sense they could possibly see through some of this BS. I am not saying that all is right here, it isn't, but there is another layer that many do not bother to uncover.

I have been to Europe three times in the last six years and have many friends there. I experienced some very nice things there and some not so nice. I found what I expected, people are the same all over. There are closed minded people there also just like here in America. If I brought back only those negative experiences, how honest would I have been with myself? When people asked me about my visits, I tell them "go, see for yourself, make your own judgments." "I think you will find as I have that it is a wonderful experience and it will broaden your mind and opinions.

Anyway, back to the PC; I have a problem when a very small group does exactly as you said. They continue to pronounce the cause over and over again and finally someone or some government official listens. Then we have the tail wagging the dog.

Have a good day, we finally reached 70 degrees and sunshine today, wow nice.

Stringer

[magprob]

"You simply...disobey."

[Stringer]

"You simply...disobey."

Agreed Mag, that's what Heston said, but be willing to probably spend time in jail or big bucks, as much of the PC is now law.

Stringer