Will Codes Work? (Malik Speaking)
						MAIN PATH: Dee
			John	Fred			Dee

You're being too sceptical. The code is intended to address several problems.

• Racist speech causes immediate emotional distress to its victims. Removing that speech will remove that distress.
  

• Racist speech expresses racist attitudes and denies African American students equal access to an education on this campus by creating a hostile educational environment. Removing that speech will improve that environment. Perhaps it will reduce racist attitudes. At the very least it will make their expression less common.
  

• Racist speech reduces its victims to things. It dehumanizes them. It says they have no right to be here at a 'white' university. Removing that speech will lessen the dehumanization and create a more hospitable environment for all minority students.
  

• Racist speech is one of many mechanisms that reinforces hierarchy on campus and in society at large. It perpetuates a caste system of first and second class citizens. Remove that speech and we will weaken that caste system.

Now I agree that the some of these claims are more speculative than others. How much will a ban on hate speech reduce racist attitudes on campus? I'm not sure. But it will definitely reduce the expression of those attitudes and reduce the emotional distress created when they are expressed. That by itself will make black students feel a lot better about being here and serves to justify a code. If we get other benefits, so much the better.

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