Week 7 - Madison Yn

Madison Yn

ASA 002 A01

Week 7

It is the assumption that “the land of the free” would practice liberty in all aspects of life, especially those freedoms that are specifically underscored in the Constitution. However, it appears “the land of the free” is a misnomer for the United States since the first amendment in the Bill of Rights has been repeatedly violated as illustrated in Robby Cohen’s “Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the Way for Student Activism” where freedom of speech was routinely denied to college students. It seems absurd and hypocritical to restrict a certain demographic from exercising their rights as American citizens, but pre-1960s, this practice was accepted and unquestioned until the students of Berkeley exposed and challenged this injustice. With the Cold War era and McCarthyism lingering in the minds of the public, students were especially fearful of voicing dissent and concerned with their safety and well-being which generated the silent generation. The effects of the Berkeley FSM were disseminating across America as other students fought and protested against their institutions, inspiring a wave of student activism and banishing the fear of dissent. However, not only have students been victims of academic restriction, but more recently they are unknowingly threatening academic freedom by aggressively promoting “political correctness” culture and excessively using trigger warnings as described in Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s “The Coddling of the American Mind”. Students have become more inclined to protect their emotional well-being by using trigger warnings to avoid topics, words, images, videos etc. that may arose unwanted feelings but the usage of trigger warnings has become so ubiquitous that they’ve extended to microaggressions. Political correctness culture has encouraged students to use trigger warnings as a form of defense and way to impede opposing opinions. The ubiquity of trigger warnings are endangering to academic freedom as it prevents professeurs from discussing significant but controversial topics. Students going into higher education should seek to expand their knowledge and engage in critical thinking which can be applicable in their future lives; narrowing the range of acceptable curriculum only serves to facilitate a “tipy-toe” milieu and ill-prepare students for the aggressive, non pandering nature of the real world.

What compelled the students of Berkeley to take a public and political stance against the University’s “no-campus political advocacy” policy during a epoch of student silence?

References:

Cohen, R. (1985). Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the Way for Campus Activism. OAH Magazine of History. Retrieved November 05, 2017.

Granlund, D. (n.d.). Celebrating the First Amendment. Retrieved November 5, 2017, from www.davegranlund.com

Lukianoff, G., & Haidt, J. (2015, October 17). The Coddling of the American Mind. The Atlantic . Retrieved November 5, 2017, from file:///Users/KelseyKim/Downloads/How%20Trigger%20Warnings%20Are%20Hurting%20Mental%20Health%20on%20Campus%20-%20The%20Atlantic.marked.pdf