The Thought Police — also known as the UNC Study Commission to Review Student Codes of Conduct as They Relate to Hate Crimes — has submitted its proposal to UNC President Erkskine Bowles, who must now decide what to do with it. I suggest he say thanks, but no thanks, to those who want to shut down speech and actions with which they disagree.
If restrictions on speech and actions are adopted, how will the nuts and bolts impact campus life and activity? The folks at UNC Chapel Hill aren’t really sure. But, according to the Daily Tar Heel, on April 13, Carolina’s Committee on Student Conduct may discuss the details.
Now is the time for defenders of free speech to implore Mr. Bowles to uphold the most fundamental right of all Americans to freely speak their minds, even when their views are offensive and in the fringe minority. The appropriate response to offensive speech is to expose it and refute it, not to ban it.
I wonder if the same people who support speech codes would be so willing to ban the words if they were printed in a book.
