A few weeks ago I received a disturbing email from my college’s President. It said:
Despite our efforts over the past several years to develop a climate of respect and pride in social, cultural and ethnic diversity, there still remain individuals who resort to vulgar and racist comments to express their views. Although most members of our community are far beyond this kind insensitive and wholly inappropriate behavior, two individuals recently left a telephone message for one our finest faculty containing comments of this kind. We will not tolerate even one incident of this kind. In an environment that is increasingly global, we must learn to live and work together. And this is even more important in an institution of higher learning where the free and civil exchange of ideas is a core value. In light of this incident, I have asked the Vice Presidents of Academic and Student Affairs to redouble our efforts to ensure that every student participates in educational experiences aimed at fostering a greater appreciation for the richness and value of our diverse community.
Now you may read this over, and not think twice about it, thinking that fostering such an environment is an admirable goal. But is it really? Sure, racist and other such negative comments is never a good thing for one’s morale, but does it mean that someone shouldn’t be able to speak his/her mind if that’s what they really feel?
We live in a society that is so politically correct, that a person is looked down upon for speaking their mind. I don’t know the exact details of this incident, but assuming that there were no threats of violence made, and the only thing said was “negative” racist remarks, really, what is wrong with that? The President even says himself in the letter, that “we must learn to live and work together…this is even more important in an institution of higher learning where the free and civil exchange of ideas is a core value”. If his desire is truly a “free exchange of ideas”, then why can’t someone freely say what they want about race, as negative as it may be?
What if, for example, this “fine faculty member” taught a class in a manner that made the white students of the class feel inferior for prior generations racism. After several weeks of putting up with the professor’s blatant racism, the student decided to take matters into his own hands (civilly) by leaving a message (with racist remarks) on that particular professor’s voice mail. Is that a bad thing? I say it’s not. An institute of higher learning’s goal should be the free exchange of ideas, whether they are pleasant to, or even agreed upon by everyone or not.
If you think that something like this is outrageous, think about this true story. I had a professor, who on the first day asked us “Who here is a Republican?” Of course I raised my hand, but unfortunately I was the only one in the class to raise it. Everyone else just sat there staring at me. The rest of the semester, I took all of the professor’s insults towards Republicans, as if I was the one responsible for all that was wrong with the country. I’ll be honest, it made me feel quite uncomfortable, and I even felt like I couldn’t defend myself, without hurting my grade, so I didn’t. What if I was to call up that professor and leave a message with “hurtful” and “insensitive” remarks? Would I be wrong in doing so? Or should I just let myself be brainwashed by taking whatever she said as being the truth about Republicans?
My point with all of this, is that we shouldn’t shun people for their beliefs, regarding race or any other issue, if our goal is a free exchange of ideas. If you are going to promote a diverse environment, then you absolutely have to recognize the fact that not everyone will agree with you on all issues, and as such they should be allowed to freely speak their mind.
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