EuJune Kim
A03
This week's reading on political correctness was very interesting. In the Atlantic article "How Trigger Warnings Are Hurting Mental Health on Campuses", the topic of trigger warnings, microaggressions, and safe spaces are discussed. The article goes onto talk about how all this coddling might disrupt one's full potential to learn/fully grasp higher knowledge.
I have to say, I very much agree that political correctness might have gone too far in this time and age. Take recent events for example. Last year, Milo Yiannopoulos and Martin Skhreli were scheduled to speak at the University of California campuses. Riots erupted, police had to intervene between protesters and those who welcomed the platform of 'free speech'.
Now, as much as I despise Milo and Martin, I believe the protesters were on the wrong side in these occasions. As much as their words and beliefs might be terrible and inhumane, that does not mean they should be silenced and bullied out. That only further enforces the idea that liberals are the ones who disallow free speech.
Voltaire once said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." In order to fully embrace our higher education, we, as college and university students cannot let words and phrases scare us away. We must face our fears or they will never go away.
Question: Can there ever be a line drawn between what can and what cannot be discussed? If so, does that not breach the entire ideology of free speech?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PSYPrE5LrQ
References:
1) ABC News. 2017, February 2. Milo Yiannopoulos Speech Protests Turns Violent At UC Berkeley. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PSYPrE5LrQ
2) N. (n.d.). Some-peoples-idea-of-free-speech-is-that-they-are-21635112 [Digital image]. Retrieved November 05, 2017, from https://pics.me.me/some-peoples-idea-of-free-speech-is-that-they-are-21635112.png
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