We can only hope that UNC System President Erskine Bowles resists the trampling of free speech and thought that’s being endorsed by UNC’s Speech Police Commission, also known as the UNC Study Commission to Review Student Codes of Conduct as They Relate to Hate Crimes.
The comments below should make every North Carolinian recoil at the intolerance they represent, and which this commission seeks to impose on every person on every UNC campus:
From the Daily Tar Heel:
“We need to try and still permit free and open expression, although be mindful of how this expression can be hurtful,†said Terri Houston, director of recruitment and multicultural programs in the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at UNC.
The protection of freedom of speech was explicitly emphasized in the committee’s recommendation, said Judith Wegner, a professor at the UNC School of Law and chairwoman of the UNC-system Faculty Assembly.
“We endorse the right of freedom of expression to the point that it does not create hostility,†said Archie Ervin, director of diversity and multicultural affairs at UNC.
Let’s be clear. If approved, this intolerant, closed-minded, politically correct mindset will dictate what does and doesn’t “create hostility” and what is and isn’t “hurtful.”
The right to express dissent and alternative views — even when those dissents and views are mean spirited and wrong-headed to some or to many in our society — is a founding principle of this country. The answer is not to restrict speech, but to encourage more speech, which illuminates and exposes all views to scrutiny.
