Hate Speech by Caitlin Ring Carlson

Author:Caitlin Ring Carlson [Carlson, Caitlin Ring]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: antisemitism; holocaust; hutu; tutsi; alt-right; nazi; Rwanda; automatic detection; content moderation; common law; community flagging; community standards; discrimination; expression; fighting words; incitment; marketplace of ideas; microagression; safe space; section 230; speech codes; statutory law; terms of service; torts; public forum; trigger warning; true threat;
ISBN: 9780262539906
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2021-03-12T00:00:00+00:00

Microaggressions, Safe Spaces, and Trigger Warnings

While universities struggle to strike a balance between protecting free expression and preventing student harm, historically, college campuses have not welcomed individuals with marginalized identities. In addition to hate speech, students with marginalized identities must also deal with “microaggressions,” which are verbal, nonverbal, or environmental slights or insults based on discriminatory belief systems that communicate (intentionally or unintentionally) hostile, derogatory, or negative messages about those targeted. Microaggressions can take many forms. Often, faculty single out students to represent the viewpoint of their entire racial or ethnic group. Students also commit microaggressions toward one another in a variety of ways. For example, a White student singing along to music that contains the N-word might be offensive to students of color, as would asking an Asian student for help with homework because of their race, or asking someone with a darker skin tone where they’re “really from.”

US colleges and universities have traditionally been primarily White, hetero-normative spaces, which can make learning and thriving difficult for students with marginalized identities. In response to these conditions, students and administrators have created “safe spaces,” designated environments in which students can explore ideas and express themselves in a context with well-understood ground rules for conversations. “Trigger warnings” are also used to let students know that upcoming material may be upsetting for some. For example, a professor may give a trigger or content warning before discussing a text that includes sexual assault, allowing students who may be uncomfortable with the discussion to exit the room.

Politicians, parents, professors, and university administrators have spoken out about the use of trigger warnings. Former President Barack Obama said that young people do not need to be coddled or protected from different points of view. He believes that if someone with whom students disagree comes to campus, they should have an argument with them, not silence them. College, Obama said, should be a place for students to widen their horizons and make them better citizens, and the way to do that is to create a space where lots of ideas are presented.11 By arguing about and testing different theories, students must consider their own, sometimes narrow, points of view.

President Trump’s administration has gone so far as to issue an executive order regarding free speech on college campuses, reminding universities not to illegally police speech based on its content. This order was likely issued in response to the idea, popular among the political right, that liberal ideas are securing a foothold in US universities while conservative voices are being drowned out. For example, the Young America’s Foundation canceled a talk by conservative pundit Ann Coulter at the University of California, Berkeley, over fears that protests against her speech would turn violent. At Middlebury College in Vermont, students shouted down a discussion between one of their professors and Charles Murray, an author and political scientist whose books argue that marginalized groups are disadvantaged because they cannot compete with intellectually, psychologically, and morally superior White men. First Amendment scholars call

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.