Comments on: University employee, threatened with punishment for reading controversial book, finally off the hook http://shallmakenolaw.com/2008/03/09/university-employee-threatened-with-punishment-for-reading-controversial-book-finally-off-the-hook/ Tracking the modern progress of the First Amendment Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:41:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Rob http://shallmakenolaw.com/2008/03/09/university-employee-threatened-with-punishment-for-reading-controversial-book-finally-off-the-hook/#comment-59 Rob Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:56:03 +0000 http://shallmakenolaw.com/2008/03/09/university-employee-threatened-with-punishment-for-reading-controversial-book-finally-off-the-hook/#comment-59 You'd think so, right? Maybe there was something else going on there - personal vendettas and whatnot - but still, it seems pretty unreal that the man's potential punishment was held over his head for so long. Looking at all the supporting documents, I can't think of any reason why no one picked up on the fact that this was a book about the *defeat* of the Klan (it's in the title for god's sake!). As my posts on the site are decidedly lopsided toward coverage of speech issues on college campuses, I've come to realize the extent to which administrators have become oversensitive to *potentially* offensive speech. (See older posts about the closing of a student paper because it included anti-Asian remarks, or the near-firing of a professor because he described the term "wetback" in a class discussion of public viewpoints on immigration). Gene Policinski, director of the First Amendment Center, summarized the issue nicely when I interviewed him a few weeks ago: "Hate is not tolerated, but I don’t think you can do that by cutting it off in the words; I think you do that by preaching and speaking and demonstrating that those concepts have no validity." You’d think so, right? Maybe there was something else going on there - personal vendettas and whatnot - but still, it seems pretty unreal that the man’s potential punishment was held over his head for so long. Looking at all the supporting documents, I can’t think of any reason why no one picked up on the fact that this was a book about the *defeat* of the Klan (it’s in the title for god’s sake!).

As my posts on the site are decidedly lopsided toward coverage of speech issues on college campuses, I’ve come to realize the extent to which administrators have become oversensitive to *potentially* offensive speech. (See older posts about the closing of a student paper because it included anti-Asian remarks, or the near-firing of a professor because he described the term “wetback” in a class discussion of public viewpoints on immigration).

Gene Policinski, director of the First Amendment Center, summarized the issue nicely when I interviewed him a few weeks ago: “Hate is not tolerated, but I don’t think you can do that by cutting it off in the words; I think you do that by preaching and speaking and demonstrating that those concepts have no validity.”

]]> By: Michael http://shallmakenolaw.com/2008/03/09/university-employee-threatened-with-punishment-for-reading-controversial-book-finally-off-the-hook/#comment-53 Michael Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:20:48 +0000 http://shallmakenolaw.com/2008/03/09/university-employee-threatened-with-punishment-for-reading-controversial-book-finally-off-the-hook/#comment-53 What makes this so deliciously ridiculous (notice I refrained from "ironic") is that the book was about a defeat of the KKK. To repeat, his book about defeating the KKK cause coworkers to feel racially threatened. Were these co-workers KKK members? If these co-workers weren't white (I'm assuming not), then wouldn't a book about the defeat of the KKK be somewhat welcome? What makes this so deliciously ridiculous (notice I refrained from “ironic”) is that the book was about a defeat of the KKK. To repeat, his book about defeating the KKK cause coworkers to feel racially threatened. Were these co-workers KKK members? If these co-workers weren’t white (I’m assuming not), then wouldn’t a book about the defeat of the KKK be somewhat welcome?

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