Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyWf
Yo I know you're trying super hard to be careful and are oh so civil in your discourse, but it mostly seems like you're a vile reactionary creep who is trying to reverse engineer principles to support people like you while still allowing punishment for others because **** them.
My post was pretty tone deaf and I can see why it would come off badly. I think the issue isn't that I'm a vile reactionary creep, but that I was being overly deferential to what I think would or would not be successful if challenged in court, rather than focusing on what I think the school should do. So let me backtrack.
The situation in Missouri seems pretty toxic and I think that students' right to an education is more important than other students' right to call them ni****. The school has a code of conduct that should be vigorously enforced, even at the risk of brushing up against First Amendment issues. I think it would be in the school's interest to say, "Our students' safety and right to learning comes first, and we will protect those rights vigorously. If you think that our protection of student rights violates your First Amendment rights to harrass them, we welcome your challenge in court." I don't think they should sit back and say, "Welp, nothing we can do about freedom of speech" as they watch their minority students experience more and more harassment.
All that being said, I still think it's a tough balancing act and I'm sure the University is going to take actions that I think go too far. But I'm not close to the situation in Missouri, am a white dude with no personal experience of racial discrimination/harassment, and I sure as hell don't like being on the same side as ikes and ogallalabob on this issue. So I'm sure my thoughts on this are going to evolve as I learn/think more about it.