With the recent turmoil over racist speech at Yale and University of Missouri, there has been a number of thoughtful commentaries on how controversies about race can complicate free speech issues. Many fear that free speech will lose out as universities address racism on campus to free campuses of hostile and demeaning speech.
The ACLU of Missouri objected to the University of Missouri police instructions to students to report hateful speech promptly with the note that while that speech may not be illegal, students can be punished for it. The ACLU warned that putting a damper on free speech would not get at the issue. “”Mistakenly addressing symptoms — instead of causes — and doing it in a way that runs counter to the First Amendment is not the wise or appropriate response,” they said. (ABC News, November 11, 2015, by Summer Ballentine and Alan Scher Zagier of The Associated Press)
Law professors criticized the police instructions finding them vague and potentially chilling to free speech on campus. (The Columbus Missourian, November 11, 2015, by Jennifer Aldrich)
Free speech advocates are reiterating that the students should address racist speech with speech that denounces the racism. In fact that is what happened at the Missouri where students peacefully demonstrated, denounced the racism and had success in calling for the resignation of university administrators who had failed to deal effectively with the problems. (The Washington Post, November 10, 2015, by Nick Anderson and Susan Svrluga with contributions from Isaac Stanley Becker)
Yale professor Daphne Brooks says that when students argue that protesters at Yale and Missouri are infringing on their rights, they are sidestepping the issue of racism and its history in America. In arguing against the position that campuses are becoming too restrictive, Brooks said universities have historically been safe for racist comments because they were mainly white but with more diversity, core controversies are surfacing that need attention. (The Los Angeles Times, Novermber 10, 2015, by Sonali Kohli)
Nicolas Kristof of The New York Times, November 11, 2015, writes that during these skirmishes, right is too often clashing with right. “Yes, universities should work harder to be inclusive. And, yes, campuses must assure free expression, which means protecting dissonant and unwelcome voices that sometimes leave other people feeling aggrieved or wounded,” he writes. He says liberals should welcome conservative voices on campus and universities need to step up in making all students feel welcome.
Some are concerned that universities are criminalizing speech on campus and fear that groups on campus with political power could determine which speech is acceptable. “It appears that George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, in which the all-powerful Big Brother government punishes ‘thought crime,’ is finally coming true at the University of Missouri and other college campuses,” writes Steve Byas in The New American, November 10, 2015.