Right-wing author and columnist, Michelle Malkin, spoke at Shriver Hall on Wednesday night.
Sponsored by the College Republicans, Malkin delivered a speech focusing primarily on her views concerning current racial profiling policies and in support of the 1940s Japanese internment camps.
While Malkin's appearance may have been controversial, College Republicans President Justin Clatsky said, "We're always trying to encourage debate and discussion."
Prior to the speech, several on-campus groups including the Inter-Asian Council (IAC), the Pakistani Student Association, College Democrats, and the Japanese Student Association Equally protested against Malkin by handing out flyers.
"I respect her right to free speech," said Pakistani Student Association President Hyder Syed, "but don't agree with what she has to say."
Still, many students were eager to hear Malkin speak.
"It's nice to see how so many people came out to support the issue. I thought it would just be me," IAC treasurer Ester Kang said. "We're interested in hearing what she has to say and how she supports her views."
Others rallying against Malkin came from the University of Maryland Law School. Marianne Koch represented both the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.
"We want to mobilize and show our support with the IAC and against her book even though we aren't Hopkins students," Koch said.
Malkin's speech, tailored around her new book, In Defense of Internment: The Case for "Racial Profiling" in World War II and the War on Terror, described racial profiling as "the most effective way to deal with Islamic extremism."
She then noted that she has bipartisan views and spoke of how she is more critical of the Bush Administration.
Highlighting the themes of her book, she stated that she was in support of religious, ethnic and racial profiling, as well as monitoring mosques.
"Liberty and the pursuit of happiness," she said, "cannot be protected without securing and protecting rights."
She later made several comparisons between the war on terrorism and Japanese internment camps to support her arguments.
She used the example of the government's policy, ratified by Roosevelt in the 1940s, to move thousands of Japanese-Americans to camps as a necessary safety measure.
She then noted two main misconceptions about the Japanese Internment camps: First, that the Japanese were not actually a security threat, and second, that there was no evidence of disloyalty by the Japanese.
She analyzed the argument that the Japanese were not a security threat to the United States by citing both the attack on Pearl Harbor and the growing Japanese navy.
She further cited the vast quantities of equipment sent from the United States overseas to countries like Japan.
To combat the misconception that there was no evidence of disloyalty by the Japanese, she stated that some Japanese espionage agents and correspondents in America worked with intelligence officials in Japan, giving detailed maps and military information.
"I consider it educational malpractice that these questions are never raised in public schools," she commented.
Malkin then mentioned in her opinion that there are discontinuous beliefs between those against racial profiling and those who support similar classifications such as affirmative actions for college. She considered the latter a "human rights abuse"
She added, "People would've supported racial profiling if they knew it would've prevented death."
Concluding her speech, she noted that wartime profiling, in her opinion, has nothing to do with prejudice, but simply life or death, saying, "We need to fight this war in unprecedented ways."
During the time allotted for questions, the audience asked Malkin to clarify a number of points. In her responses, Malkin stood behind her argument in support of the US government.
Following her speech, Malkin sold copies of her book and allowed time for more questions. Due to pressure on a Republican student group at American University from Bush Campaign officials, she was recently asked not to speak at the university. Malkin does plan to promote her book and speak at several more college campuses.
