This Isn't about Speech (Vera Speaking)
		Comment		Source		MAIN PATH: Malik
						Malik

I think we're on the wrong track. All of you, whether you are liberal or conservative, keep defining the issue in terms of free expression, the value of expression, the justifications on restrictions, and so forth. That conceptualization is a trap that prevents us from seeing what is really at stake.

The problem here is that certain actions harm other people. Conservatives raise the banner of free speech because they can't see that harm. It has gone on for so long that they are blind to it. Liberals who traditionally defend free speech find themselves in a dilemma. To get out of the dilemma they start bending their logic and looking for ways to get around their usual commitments.

A better approach is not to conceptualize the problem as a free speech issue at all. That tends to make heroes out of the bad guys. What we have instead are people who are assaulting others and harming them in serious ways. The fact that words are used as the means to carry out this assault is incidental. What we should do is stop the harm that is being done to women and people of color on this campus. The code is a step forward in that struggle.

Ariadne Home	Hate Speech Bibliography	Hate Speech Home