Institutions are private, and as SC highlights in the parent post, it’s nonsense that they hold themselves to the 1A standard. Whether we’re talking about censoring speakers found objectionable (which happens at public and private universities), or examples like punishing use of an undesirable pronoun. The question wasn’t whether, say, “from River to sea” is a call for genocide. It was “hypothetically, is a call for genocide a violation of your policies”.

Do you think Elon Musk is simply being indelicate when he amplifies otherwise obscure hateful shit to his 160 mil followers, cancels twitterers who offend him, and then calls himself a free speech absolutist? Or is he fully full of shit? I’m going with the latter. That’s my main problem with these people. In what world do these universities hold themselves to the 1A these days? Against that backdrop, you fumble a question about genocide? Of anyone?

If these schools really were bastions of free expression, I’d see this somewhat differently. It says something strange and unnerving to me when heads of institutions which demand orthodoxy in expression in so many ways, didn’t seem to think direct calls for mass murder based on identity violated that orthodoxy.

The political left needs to open its eyes imo. This is indicative of a much deeper, wider problem in academia. It’s not simply a question of indelicate answers under pressure. They’ve become downright illiberal (little “L” liberal) in so many ways…but, I mean, if you want to call for the slaughter of the Jews, hey, who are we to interfere. Apparently policing pronoun use is all-consuming and leaves no room for policing calls for mass murder.

Schumer called the rise in anti-semitism, especially on our elite campuses, a 5 alarm fire. I’d include targeting of Muslims in that too, and I’d take it further - all this didn’t happen in a vacuum. Academia’s focus on oppression based on identity group is the real fire blazing out of most people’s views. I think the flames are now bursting out of the windows.

[Post edited by hoolstoptheheels at 12/07/2023 08:46AM]