First Amendment Rights and Whiteness as Property: A Systematic Literature Review in the Context of Palestine-Israel within U.S. Higher Education

• In Event: Research In Progress Roundtable Session 5
  In Invited Roundtable: Equity and Opportunity in Higher Education: Affirmative Action, Student Debt, and Free Expression (Table 6)

Abstract

The historical suppression of movements like civil rights and anti-war protests through restrictive regulations and selective law enforcement, often targeting Black and anti-imperialist activists (Morgan & Davis, 2019), offers a critical context for understanding contemporary challenges to campus activism. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict underscores entrenched power dynamics, with pro-Palestinian activism frequently encountering administrative suppression, event cancellations, and organizational sanctions (Aziz, 2024; Salaita, 2024). Campus protests in 2024, marked by demonstrations and sit-ins advocating for U.S. university divestment from Israeli-supporting corporations (Madison, 2024), reveal heightened repression, including arrests and speech limitations. This study explores how institutional policies intersect with concepts of free expression and campus safety, focusing on Historically and Predominantly White Institutions through the lens of Harris' (1993) Whiteness as Property.

Author

• Yasmin Elgoharry, University of Connecticut