Linda wrote:
> The regular posting of anti-Semitic ideas, in this case, on a professional
> discussion list is unacceptable. Similarly, the presentation of such
> information as just an exchange of ideas in the classroom would be
> problematic and most likely violate university policies.
I was going to stay out of this thread, but I felt a need to comment on this
one statement.
Sorry, Linda, but the posting of _ideas_ or information (versus accusations,
derogatory comments, etc.) is _never_ unacceptable on a professional list.
Simply because those ideas may hold potential offense for others, does not
mean they should not be exposed to the light of intellectual discussion.
Consider the case of the "Bell Curve." Should we, as psychology instructors,
refuse to discuss the research and ideas in that book if we perceive them as
racist ideas? Or should we examine the methodology, the principles being
discussed, and other aspects openly in a spirit of open discourse.
I despise hate speech in any form--and I've spent most of my life as an
active part of rights organizations ranging from the Freedom Riders of the
sixties to the Women's Liberation and Gay Rights movements. Despite this, I
would _far_ rather hear the most vile comments of the KKK or the Nazis blasted
from loudspeakers on a campus than to have free speech censored in any manner.
I refuse to censor myself in my classroom (and, for the record, one of the
classes I teach is "Minority Groups in America," a minority studies class in
the Sociology department), and I find it even more troublesome to hear a call
for censorship in a professional discussion list, no matter how justified that
call seems to be.
If we cannot disprove such ideas through rational discussion and factual
information, then perhaps those ideas have merit. If we _can_ disprove them,
then we need not censor them at all. I believe we can do so, personally.
Perhaps if we as educators would stop concerning ourselves as much with
protecting students from speech and started focusing more on insuring that
they are capable of discerning the difference between research (both sound and
unsound), personal opinions, ideas, and true hate speech we would be doing
them a far greater service.
This is not meant as an attack on you, Linda, only as a clear opposition to
any form of censorship or limitations on speech (beyond those dealing with
obscene language and personal attacks--neither of which has any place in a
list for professionals, of course) and as a suggestion that we may often carry
such limitations too far in our concern for protecting others from words.
Peace,
Rick
--
Rick Adams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Social Sciences
Jackson Community College, Jackson, MI
"... and the only measure of your worth and your deeds
will be the love you leave behind when you're gone."
Fred Small, J.D., "Everything Possible"
