Should quoting racial slurs be banned in schools

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commonsense
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Should quoting racial slurs be banned in schools

Post by commonsense »

I came across this issue on CNN, which is a left of center news outlet, and thought it might be worth a go here.

There have been incidents reported of students being expelled from school for quoting racial slurs in class, and one USC professor was fired for using a Chinese expression that sounded like an English language racial slur.

Is this a freedom of speech issue? A PC problem? Wokers gone wild? Anti-racism gone awry?

What gives?
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Terrapin Station
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Re: Should quoting racial slurs be banned in schools

Post by Terrapin Station »

Freedom of speech issue in my opinion.

Freedom of speech isn't only a legal issue.

I'm not in favor of an speech or expression restrictions.
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Immanuel Can
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Re: Should quoting racial slurs be banned in schools

Post by Immanuel Can »

Well, one of the things adults have to teach children is how to speak so as to be wise, and not to make themselves hated, or to hurt people unnecessarily. Unfortunately, in our era, instructing children in anything gets seen as "paternalistic" or some kind of contemptible "Victorian squeamishness." But really, it's just kindness to them to teach them not to make mistakes that will get them hurt in life.

But once somebody's old enough...maybe 18, for many, they should be past such training, and are responsible for whatever they choose to say. That's when free speech really kicks in...once a child has been helped to figure out how to use his power of speech to serve his own interests and those of the people around him.

Adults answer for themselves. That's what being an adult means (and why Socialists aren't acting like adults). In the adult world, a man is free to declare his commitments and to answer to others for what he may choose to say. And they are responsible, as adults, to be mature enough to handle speech that startles, challenges or upsets them, and to behave themselves as adults in response.

What we have now, though, is adults behaving childishly with their freedom of speech (witness, for example, the use of debased and racialized language in films and popular music) and a childish response from society, which is acting fragile, and being petulant and excessive in backlashing against anything even remotely perceived as upsetting (witness "microaggressions," "silencing," " and "safe spaces": you couldn't get any more infantile concepts if you tried, really).

Free speech is for adults. That's the main point. It's about having good judgment in speech, on the one side, and thick skins, on the other. Time for our societies to grow up.

But in schools, the rules are different. So long as children are involved, the freedom to speak has to be offset against the child's need for training in how to use his freedom...because he doesn't come from the womb knowing that.
uwot
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Re: Should quoting racial slurs be banned in schools

Post by uwot »

commonsense wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 2:41 pmI came across this issue on CNN, which is a left of center news outlet, and thought it might be worth a go here.

There have been incidents reported of students being expelled from school for quoting racial slurs in class, and one USC professor was fired for using a Chinese expression that sounded like an English language racial slur.
So what are the details? It's difficult to know how outraged I am without knowing what happened.
commonsense wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 2:41 pmIs this a freedom of speech issue? A PC problem? Wokers gone wild? Anti-racism gone awry?

What gives?
Fuck knows, you tell us.
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