Well, that didn’t take long.
The Social Justice Warriors have emerged from their safe spaces and begun attacking the University of Chicago’s statement supporting free speech and opposing trigger warnings and safe spaces. They are complaining for a good reason: They don’t want free speech to spread to other campuses.
What are the main arguments against the Chicago letter? One of my former graduate students sent me this report from a group website for her liberal arts college (a very fine school). What do her fellow alums say?
Well, for one, they are surprised they even need to make arguments for their side. For years, they haven’t had to. Administrators, like those at the University of Missouri, simply rolled over and played dead rather than confront them. But that was political cowardice, not real intellectual engagement. Now that the Social Justice Warriors must defend their position, what do they say?
The arguments against Chicago’s free-speech letter
They object to “no trigger warnings” because it is insensitive to people who have experienced trauma and might need a “heads-up” if they are going to encounter triggering content in class.
They object to “no safe spaces” because those are the only places where marginalized groups will feel completely free to voice their opinions.
They say safe spaces are not about banning dissenting viewpoints but about banning hateful, bigoted speech that is truly harmful.
They reject the idea that colleges should be places where ideas are freely exchanged because “not all ideas are equal and some are too offensive to have a place in the community.”
The common theme is “we must all be more sensitive. Otherwise people will be harmed psychologically.”
What’s right with those arguments, and what’s wrong?
First, let’s consider trigger warnings. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a professor or teaching assistant saying, “We are going to discuss Greek myths and some of you might find them troubling.” But it’s also perfectly fine if, all of a sudden in a class on Greek myths, the professor discusses one. The students at Columbia University actually wanted warnings before all myths. Their demand was not about helping one or two students in a large class. It was simply bullying under the cloak of “sensitivity.”
Anyway, universities are all about discussing sensitive subjects and raising troubling questions. If a university is really vigorous, then the whole place should be wrapped in a gigantic trigger warning.
Finally, as a teacher, how can I possibly anticipate all the things that might trigger students in my class on “Big Wars From Ancient Greece to Early Modern Europe” (a lecture course I am teaching next year)? When I mention the Roman war with German tribes on the Rhine, how can I know that your grandfather died fighting on the Rhine in World War II?