Posted on 12/13/2023 9:11:18 AM PST by Angelino97
The testimony of three university presidents before a House committee last week provoked outrage after they suggested that calls on their campuses for Jewish genocide might not have violated their schools’ free speech policies. One of them, Liz Magill, was forced to step down on Saturday as president of the University of Pennsylvania, where I am a faculty member.
But their statements shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Congress could have assembled two dozen university presidents and likely would have received the same answer from each of them.
This is because the value of free speech has been elevated to a near-sacred level on university campuses. As a result, universities have had to tolerate hate speech — even hate speech calling for violence against ethnic or religious minorities. With the dramatic rise in antisemitism, we are discovering that this is a mistake: Antisemitism — and other forms of hate — cannot be fought on university campuses without restricting poisonous speech that targets Jews and other minorities.
University presidents are resisting this conclusion. Rather than confront the conflict between the commitment to free speech and the commitment to eliminating the hostile environment facing Jewish students on campus, many simply affirm their commitment to both or buy time by setting up task forces to study the problem. Some have attempted to split the difference by saying they are institutionally committed to free speech but personally offended by antisemitism. Others have said the answer to hate speech is education and more speech.
Countering speech with more speech might just mean adding to the hateful rhetoric on campus and would not solve the problem.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
“This is because the value of free speech has been elevated to a near-sacred level on university campuses.”
Huh?
Restrict Free Speech? Great. Another democrat/totalitarian idiot notion from the Compost.
Look. Allow these idiots to praise Nazi/Hamas terrorists all day long.
Just let them know (and see) there are dire consequences to their idiot speech.
I especially like that law firms are denying jobs to idiots who support Hamas.
More free speech so we know them by their fruits.
How will you know somebody is an antisemite if you don’t let them spout their antisemitism?
Bull. This is a false equivalency. It asserts that pro-israel speech is just as hateful as support for exterminating jews.
Let us find out just how much the universities love free speech.
Have someone broadcast Alex Jones on any campus over a loudspeaker—and watch what happens next.
;-)
No. We need MUCH better education, open and honest discussion and examination of the facts.
To fight Islamaphobia, perhaps we should restrict the practice of Islam.
Wrong conclusion. I am gonna guess the dreck was written by a liberal.
Speech is not the problem. Intimidation, harassment, direct calls for violence against whole groups of people, occupation of buildings, and preventing the daily business of the university that is the problem.
As abhorrent as it is students have the right to peacefully demonstrate and give speeches either in support of Palestine and against Israel. “Hate speech” is too often in the eye of the beholder and is used as to bludgeon opinions that do not fit a current (usually Leftist) narrative.
Behavior that violates a code of conduct or the law is more obvious and should be less debatable no matter the culprit.
Failure to prosecute those who are in violation of the above is the problem. Not free speech.
That would be news to many Conservative student groups. Especially those who speak against abortion.
I agree. I think the real, underlying problem is that radical leftist faculty members actually TEACH the students to hate Jews and Judaism, just like the Palestinians TEACH their children to hate Jews and Judaism. (Christian hate is not far behind.)
Pretty sure threats of violence is already frowned upon.
What a steaming pile of Obama.
Heck NO!
So now the ridiculous ‘safe space’ bubble is expanding to the whole University?
The whole point of a University is learning and the free exchange of ideas.
So as horrible as it sounds, I support the free speech of Neonazis, BLM, Farrakhan, LBGTQ?, even radical muslims. They all have free speech.
Already there.
Bad, ugly speech is defeated with more bad, ugly speech.
The leftist running the campuses consider sharing opposing views to be de facto violence.
but use the wrong pronoun
“The idea that free speech is treated as “near-sacred” on college campuses is beyond absurd.”
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