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Safe space (noun): A place where people who share a viewpoint can relax, feel comfortable, and not be challenged by opposing viewpoints. See also "exclusive country club."
As I've learned over the years, most people complaining about "political correctness" are angry that they can't call "those people" bigoted names anymore, and most people complaining about "safe zones" are mad that they can't be offensive, fight-picking thugs anymore. Every complaint I've ever heard about such things has inevitably come from angry people who just like to pick fights and make life hell for anyone who's different.
So, while a university is a place for open discourse and inquiry, that is very rarely what the opponents of political correctness and safe zones are actually seeking. Instead, they feel that they have some sort of right to bully others, and that is not protected by academic freedom. Heck, it's not even really protected by the first amendment; you can't be put in prison for being a verbal thug, but there are still consequences for spewing bigotry and being a thug.
I think that's more true of the people outside the university than inside it. I think PC efforts to prevent speech are more dangerous within the universities.
As I've learned over the years, most people complaining about "political correctness" are angry that they can't call "those people" bigoted names anymore, and most people complaining about "safe zones" are mad that they can't be offensive, fight-picking thugs anymore. Every complaint I've ever heard about such things has inevitably come from angry people who just like to pick fights and make life hell for anyone who's different.
So, while a university is a place for open discourse and inquiry, that is very rarely what the opponents of political correctness and safe zones are actually seeking. Instead, they feel that they have some sort of right to bully others, and that is not protected by academic freedom. Heck, it's not even really protected by the first amendment; you can't be put in prison for being a verbal thug, but there are still consequences for spewing bigotry and being a thug.
I used to feel exactly the same way, and you can find posts of mine here which sound almost exactly like your first paragraph if you go back a few years. I'm still very much left wing overall, and very much for social progress. That's exactly what puts me against the current social justice trends on American campuses.... The open bigotry, the fanatical obsession with shutting down any dissenting thought - sometimes even when it is being used in a critical and unsympathetic light - the preoccupation with rhetoric and opinion over reason and fact... These are things we used to associate more with the extreme right and that were outraged about. I see no reason as to why it's different now.
There's a group that has discovered than they can be bigots - and that they like it. It's easy to blame all of society's - and your - problems on other people! It's fun to put people in a position where you can openly and gleefully mock certain groups and strip away their social right to fight back or even take exception! This isn't justice or progress.
As I've learned over the years, most people complaining about "political correctness" are angry that they can't call "those people" bigoted names anymore, and most people complaining about "safe zones" are mad that they can't be offensive, fight-picking thugs anymore. Every complaint I've ever heard about such things has inevitably come from angry people who just like to pick fights and make life hell for anyone who's different.
So, while a university is a place for open discourse and inquiry, that is very rarely what the opponents of political correctness and safe zones are actually seeking. Instead, they feel that they have some sort of right to bully others, and that is not protected by academic freedom. Heck, it's not even really protected by the first amendment; you can't be put in prison for being a verbal thug, but there are still consequences for spewing bigotry and being a thug.
I respectfully but totally disagree.
When Ben Shapiro has two speeches canceled, Cal State L.A. cancels speech by conservative writer Ben Shapiro and DePaul bans Ben Shapiro, (it is unclear whether the L.A. speech was reinstated, and coverage of the cancellations by mainstream media has been limited), see also The anti-Semitic face of political correctness - Detroit News, this is not a situation where people are looking for license to use racial or gender epithets. This is an effort to shut off serious speech and discussion. It appears from the welter of conflicting coverage on the Cal State L.A. speech that the speech was allowed to go forward but a mob was allowed to obstruct attendance and disrupt the speech. Similarly, in Canada (which is a bit different because of the lack of an absolute First Amendment or equivalent), Ann Coulter's planned speech in 2010 at the University of Ottawa was canceled because of "safety concerns," see Ann Coulter's speech in Ottawa cancelled. While many people may not like those two (I can't stand Ann Coulter, for example) they are clearly not progenitors of hate speech.
In no way were those events attempts to give license to "call 'those people' bigoted names."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pub-911
Education can also be compromised by allowing the creation of hostile environments.
How is allowing a reputable if disagreeable speaker such as Ben Shapiro or Ann Coulter "the creation of (a) hostile environment"? Would Ronald Reagan have been permitted to speak during the period after he left the Governor's office and before he started his 1980 Presidential campaign? What about Alan Dershowitz, who is liberal on some issues, conservative on others? Or what about the right of Benjamin Netanyahu (at a time he was not holding political office) to speak? See Montreal protesters force cancellation of Netanyahu speech.
Last edited by Jeo123; 09-03-2016 at 09:18 PM..
Reason: Typo
Safe space (noun): A place where people who share a viewpoint can relax, feel comfortable, and not be challenged by opposing viewpoints. See also "exclusive country club."
A "safe space" (or "positive space") is simply an area were LGBT and/or other marginalized populations can come together and speak freely without fear of verbal abuse or physical attacks from KKK-like reactionary elements in society. Many workplaces today are approximations of a "safe space" as abusers are apt to be disciplined and even terminated.
A "safe space" (or "positive space") is simply an area were LGBT and/or other marginalized populations can come together and speak freely without fear of verbal abuse or physical attacks from KKK-like reactionary elements in society. Many workplaces today are approximations of a "safe space" as abusers are apt to be disciplined and even terminated.
Don't they still have the ability to create campus organizations where they can meet and do this?
How is allowing a reputable if disagreeable speaker such as Ben Shapiro or Ann Coulter "the creation of (a) hostile environment"?
Perhaps we should inquire as to why these people are seen as being "disagreeable" in the first place. If it is because they are known to be statists or fascists, that would be one thing. If it is because they are known and reliable haters and abusers of marginalized and disadvantaged populations, that would be something else entirely.
My answer? That we have moved to a point where this even has to be a debate. Should Academic Freedom at Universities Trump Political Correctness and "Safe Zones"?
What a sorry bunch of wind up toys!
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