The message should not be that these students are protesting against free speech, but that their protests represent free speech at its best, and that isolated incidents that seem to reflect a resistance to free expression do not reflect the true character of this movement. To respond defensively by lashing out against the concept of free speech is to violate a core principle of political strategy: never play into your opponent’s frame! Why should these protest movements accept the negative stereotype that their critics have made of them? Instead, protesters and their allies in the media should turn the accusation back around at these critics. We should insist that, by failing to prevent the harassment and exclusion of students of color, college administrators have in fact inadequately defended the basic rights of these students, most certainly including the right to free expression. We should also insist that, by raising their voices in protest, these students are in fact embracing the principle of free expression in its truest sense.

The message should not be that these students are protesting against free speech, but that their protests represent free speech at its best, and that isolated incidents that seem to reflect a resistance to free expression do not reflect the true character of this movement. To respond defensively by lashing out against the concept of free speech is to violate a core principle of political strategy: never play into your opponent’s frame! Why should these protest movements accept the negative stereotype that their critics have made of them? Instead, protesters and their allies in the media should turn the accusation back around at these critics. We should insist that, by failing to prevent the harassment and exclusion of students of color, college administrators have in fact inadequately defended the basic rights of these students, most certainly including the right to free expression. We should also insist that, by raising their voices in protest, these students are in fact embracing the principle of free expression in its truest sense.

—[don’t play into the conservative frame!

Fredrik deBoer](http://fredrikdeboer.com/2015/11/12/dont-play-into-the-conservative-frame/)