Today, the majority of people are not racist, gay marriage is legal and young conservatives often label themselves as “socially liberal,” as I do.
Yet, it seems like some of the majority believe they are still the minority.
University of Wisconsin administrators released a directive Nov. 13 in the wake of events at University of Missouri. It highlighted UW’s commitment to diversity and focus on being a positive learning environment. I applaud UW for taking that stance.
But it also said, “While individuals are always free to express their own beliefs, no one is entitled to express them in ways that diminish others, or that devalues the presence of anyone that is part of our Badger community.”
While the university probably didn’t intend to, the directive proposes the idea of limited free speech.
Currently, 40 percent of millennials actively want to make offensive speech illegal. I can understand why, but take the word “offensive” out and think for a while. Forty percent of millennials want to see a form of speech made illegal. UW’s directive does nothing to help this. I understand why they are doing it — to stop a Missouri situation from happening here — but they did it in a way that gives credence to the idea that some limited free speech is better than free speech. This is wrong.
As the great philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote so many years ago, “Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly, our most cherished opinions.”
On a liberal college campus, opinions of equality dominate the social sphere. Is there still inherent structural racism in this country? Yes, but those who cherish equality for all mankind make up the majority. But we are no better than those who try to take away our equality if we do not allow our beliefs to be challenged.
If our beliefs are true, there is incentive to inviting opposition. Instead of silencing dissent, counter it and prove that you are right. Instead of limiting speech, use speech to further prove and promote your beliefs.
Personally, we should be grateful for people like Everett Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, for not being afraid to speak freely. After a student came to him saying he felt victimized by a university sermon, he wrote, “This is not a day care. This is a university!” and he couldn’t have been more right. We — at least I did — came to this university to have my thoughts and ideas challenged and to learn. Instead, it appears we would rather pat ourselves on the back for being “social justice warriors.”
If we put as much effort into solving climate change, stopping the mass extinction of half the species on Earth or reforming our justice system as we put towards wanting a “safe space,” we could actually make a difference. But instead you’ll tell me what words to use and how to use them or that I cannot talk at all.
We want the same thing, but you care more about how I say it than what I’m actually saying.
Luke Schaetzel ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism and political science.
