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Once a neighborhood activist in Brooklyn, Linda Sarsour has become an internationally-recognized progressive. (Arun Venugopal )

The nation's culture warriors are battling in the streets of New York this graduation season.

Muslimactivist Linda Sarsour delivered the commencement address at CUNY Thursday. In the speech, she urged Americans to fight against hate.

"What does it mean when we say were social justice activists and organizers committed to justice and equality for all people? It means we made a decision that we would never be bystanders," she said.

The speech triggered protests from the same conservatives who have faced calls to cancel their own speeches.

Anti-Islam provocateur MiloYiannopoulos, who was been banned from Twitter and hada planned speech at the University of California at Berkeley descend into violence, spoke at an anti-Sarsour protest last week. In his remarks, he said she, in fact, should be allowed to speak at CUNY.

"Dont ban her, but hold her to account," Yiannopoulos said after making a bigoted joke about paying Sarsour in goats. "Make her debate. Make her defend her hateful and odious positions."

WNYC's Arun Venugopal and Matt Katz examine the robust debate over free speech on college campuses.

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A Brooklyn Woman at the Center of the Nation's Culture Wars - WNYC