Losing the Battle, Part IV

Should we shame people into accepting our views and values?

"Everyone has a right to their opinion, and expressing that opinion is not illegal. You can even use hate speech. It's protected under the freedom of speech. Some colleges use 'speech codes' but those don't stand up in the Supreme Court," I say to the English instructor before class begins. I've told him this already, over the span of two emails.

"I agree that opinions should be shared as long as it's done respectfully," the English instructor comments back.

"I believe that my classmates crossed that line when we were discussing the journal topic about the boy with bipolar disorder."

He's staring at a computer screen. "I don't remember. It was a few months ago."

Earlier the English instructor had made the point that college wasn't here to re-affirm your beliefs, it was here to open you up to new ideas.

That sounds good, and indeed in most cases, it is; however, some ideas are morally corrupt, and we as a society recognize them as such. The most obvious example is racism. If a professor is promoting racism because he is a white supremacist, should he be allowed to stand in front of group of young adults and spew his hatred? What if he's a really brilliant physicist and his commentary on racial relations is secondary to his choice science?

What if you are in biology class and your professor tells you the world is flat? Because a fringe of people actually believe the earth is flat.

Yes, there should always be an exchange of ideas, but an institution has the added responsibility of teaching tolerance and dispelling ignorance.

I have a feeling that if this was law class or even psychology class, students would think twice about using the psych term "delusional." If they were made more aware of the discrimination against people with mental illness or any other disability, that they would choose their words more wisely.

Or perhaps not.

"I think I'm just going to keep my mouth shut," I say, breaking the brief silence.