Daily Reveille opinion editor Andrew Robertson wrote a column two weeks ago about the recent firings of Helen Thomas, Rick Sanchez and Juan Williams — members of the media who had been fired for expressing their personal opinions.
 
Was it a little close to censorship? Perhaps.
 
Personally, though, I can’t say I’m too surprised these people were fired. While America does celebrate freedom of speech, that doesn’t mean we get freedom from retaliation for what we might say.
 
While we may not be persecuted by the government for what we say, it does not guarantee we’ll avoid repercussions from our employers or those around us.
 
Derek Fenton, a New Jersey Transit worker, found this out after being fired from his job.
 
Fenton burned a Quran on Sept. 11, nine years after the attacks, to protest the “ground zero mosque.” He was let go from his job two days later.
 
As a result, Fenton is working with the American Civil Liberties Union to sue his former employers to both get his job back and receive a monetary reward.
 
For those of you who don’t know what exactly the ACLU does, here’s a quick overview: The organization acts as “our nation’s guardian of liberty” and works to defend the rights everyone is guaranteed by the Constitution and other U.S. laws, according to the group’s website.
 
The ACLU often finds itself helping people who’ve been fired for discrimination, keeping the separation of church and state or improving the rights of minorities. Most of the time, it also comes under fire from conservatives, who claim the ACLU only helps liberal causes.
 
Needless to say, Fenton’s case should debunk some of this perception.
 
However, I can also say I might not agree with the ACLU’s involvement in this case. As an employee of a partially public company, Fenton was protected by the First Amendment, unlike employees of private companies.
 
What makes this case different is his supposed neglect to go through the proper channels of protest.
 
NJ Transit allows employees to participate in political activities, so long as they go through the proper channels beforehand, i.e. ask permission to do it. Whether Fenton did or did not go through those channels has yet to be disclosed to the media.
 
The reason channels like this are in place, and the reason why private companies like NPR, CNN and Hearst fired their reporters, are similar.
 
Whether we like it or not, perceptions are important in our society. When employees go out and participate in politically incorrect activities, whether it’s Quran burning or spouting controversial personal views, it reflects upon the employer. They could become associated with these views, which could cost the company down the line.
 
Take, for example, Amazon, which faced a First Amendment issue of its own this week. Recently, the book “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child Lover’s Code of Conduct,” by Philip Greaves, was released on Amazon for purchase and download.
 
It shouldn’t be surprising that this book caused quite an uproar, and many customers threatened to boycott the business unless the book was taken down. Amazon initially defended freedom of speech and the author’s right to sell his book on its site — but that didn’t last long.
 
Greaves does indeed have the right to express his views, and Amazon has the right to sell the book. However, customers also have the right to boycott the company because of the book.
 
This brings me back to my main point: Freedom of speech does not guarantee freedom from negative reactions, which is what some people seem to think.
 
Ultimately, this is how it has to be.
 
Call it societal censorship if you will, but true freedom of speech is an illusion. Our words, ideas and
actions will always have reactions, and rightfully so, as some views can be seen as definitively wrong.
 
Just because you invoke freedom of speech does not make your view automatically OK.
 
Deciding which of these views are right and wrong is a fine line, one which our society has walked for countless years. But this is what freedom of speech actually entails.
 
However flawed it may be at times, we can at least pride ourselves that we have it this way.
 
Zachary Davis is a 19-year-old history sophomore from Warsaw, Poland. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_zdavis.
 
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