Do College Students Hate Free Speech? Let's Ask Them.

Occidental College in California is considering instituting a system for students to report so-called microaggressions perpetrated against them on campus microaggressions are statements that intentionally or unintentionally send a negative message related to someone's membership in a marginalized group we visited campus to ask Occidental students if they agree that the following statements could be considered microaggressions they've all been documented as such on a college campus somewhere in the United States have you heard of the term microaggression yeah that's a big thing on campus if we see large-scale violence we can name that as a macro aggression but the way that we devalue that violence the way that we silenced that violence that's a micro aggression I'm asking an asian-american where were you born yes very very contextual you know that's not a micro aggression that's just asking whether we'll pull telling a black student that he or she is very articulate that is about saying all lives matter um I think because the history behind black lives matter it's kind of like appropriating a statement that was created specifically to talk about black lives being lost to police brutality so that is I'm colorblind I don't see race I believe the most qualified person should get the job qualifications aren't really the only the only things you consider when hiring someone if you're saying that the most qualified person is someone who is not a minority you're not a religion you believe in then yes I'd be microaggression saying god bless you after somebody sneezes oh that would be a microaggression because of different religions yeah it could be a microaggression to someone who doesn't believe in God I think that the harm there is relatively minimal so there's still some harm though I would say there's not harmed but if it's being asked clearly someone found maybe mini microaggression perhaps do you see any downside to creating a database full of statements that faculty and students make to each other in terms of protecting free speech values on campus not in terms of protecting free speech value but the idea of a database certainly raises eyebrows so yes we do need a system where we can report our experiences and that like a system of education or whatever I would say it's good to have it in place but to have like harsh accents against it it wouldn't be beneficial to student life it it'll make a safer environment so I fully support the council and I think it's really great that the faculty is taking this initiative because it wasn't one of the demands the faculty on their own said like we're gonna do this because we believe it's what we should be doing I'm sorry went above and beyond to police hate speech I think so in some respects protests are erupting on college campuses across the country as students demand that administrators address racial grievances through mandatory sensitivity training courses hiring of more diverse faculty members and the resignation of insufficiently responsive college presidents change comes from listening learning Karen video captured at Yale University show a student shouting down a professor trying to engage her in conversation about the role of faculty in regulating students Halloween costumes this professor's wife also a faculty member later resigned from Yale saying the current climate at Yale is not in my views conducive to civil dialogue and open inquiry another clip out of the University of Missouri shows students and at least one professor pushing journalists out of their self-styled safe space you need to get out you need to get out so I don't while these protesters are clearly exercising their First Amendment rights images such as these have led more and more observers to wonder whether or not college students care about the free speech rights of others what are your thoughts on the concept of free speech do you support free speech yes I do support free speech and oxys an environment that also supports differing opinions free speech allows you to have new input constantly and I think that's like a really big part of the community Roxie Obama actually says actually encouraged that's saying that instead of college students being coddled they should have these active discussions so that they can learn something new and change their viewpoints a little bit too much Century censorship would give a lot of power to few individuals and I believe in a more even distribution of power I think that everyone should be able to say what they believe in what's on their mind most of the students we spoke with seemed to defend free speech in principle if not always in practice but one organizer of the previous week's protests viewed even the concept of free speech with deep suspicion those using the rhetoric of free speech are individuals who already are in positions of power who are creating history who are creating these dominant narratives free speech conceptually is about this idea of equality that everyone can have the right to say something but that's not the way our society works that's not the way this college campuses work we only hear the same reiteration of particular voices over and over again and that's white students voices that's President beech his voice a recent Pew poll found that 95 percent of Americans believe citizens should have the right to criticize government policies publicly but the numbers weakened when you start talking about offensive speech 40 percent of Millennials polled believes that the government should be able to prevent people from making statements that are offensive to minority groups for instance if it's a racist remark or something that tries to stir up the public I think that is that should be stopped I think if the speech involves a threat or involve violence of any type then that should not be allowed but other than that I don't think there should be like a regulation on that personally I think that if you ever say someone you know I hate you because you're so and so that's it you know that should not be allowed in a way it's free speech but in a way again it's a hate crime if you're saying you're a lesser person because you're a Muslim Jewish Christian Catholic any of the above that's not okay and that's a hate crime that's the other thing about free speech when I say that it's about power and privilege it only enables like things like hate speech because it makes it seem that like everything that we say has equal weight when that's that's not true don't want to single out Donald Trump but his approach to this political campaign like saying we should monitor some mosques we should build this wall and keep out all the Mexicans because they bring that gangs they bring all that crime that kind of speech is really hurtful to those people for no reason just because he wants to get his views across and Donald Trump shouldn't be allowed to say those things personally I wouldn't say so just because like a lot of other people I don't really think that he has the capabilities of being a president or what kind of repercussions would you like to see for hate speech violations now I haven't really thought about that to be honest I think that in no way should we like send someone to prison for that but I think that there should be protection of people who are being attacked what we say in terms of hate speech has incredible weight right because it's an intimately linked to violence against people of color it's intimately linked to the prison industrial complex do you think free speech is valued on this campus yeah I think it is you feel that free speech is alive and well on the campus of Occident yes the only thing that I do know now is that you're in we're in a position where you can't ignore what's going on on this campus and that's kind of the bottom line so students have been turning a blind eye for a while now whether it's whether or not they're using a justification of free speech that's on them if I were to sneeze and you said god bless you to me could that be a microaggression I want to say no but at the same time I guess it would count

Channel: ReasonTV

Views: 4,309,529

Keywords: College, Student (Fictional Job Title), Occidental College (College/University), Freedom Of Speech (Quotation Subject), microaggression, trigger warning, libertarian, reason magazine, oxy united for black liberation, racism, privilege, check your privilege, First Amendment To The United States Constitution (Constitutional Amendment), Microaggression Theory

Id: i_4-BqSIUD8

Length: 8min 12sec (492 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 08 2015