Quote:As has been pointed out already, the right to free speech ends when educational institutions are involved... 

 

I understand what you are saying, and while I disagree with the part in bold, this thread isn't specifically about "free speech", it's about "PC".


 

"Colored people" - This term certainly wasn't always offensive, but it was subverted into an extremely offensive term in the era between Jim Crow Laws passing and the end of the Civil Rights movement. Today, though, it is a racially-charged term, and one best left to history classrooms. History classrooms, imo, are where many of the things we consider taboo today should be freely and openly taught. I'm not saying history professors should go around dropping N-bombs left and right, but I do think that it's important that kids, particularly at the high school and college levels, hear that word and know just how much hate and evil existed to form it. Roughly the same rationale applies to the term "colored people", although calling someone colored is not nearly on the same level as dropping an N-bomb on them.

 

I can somewhat agree with you on this.  However, I do think that it should be taught down to the elementary school level.  As an example, I distinctly remember my 4th grade teacher reading Mark Twain to us (I don't remember if it was Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer).  He (my teacher) was a white guy and read the words written by Mark Twain verbatim, including the "n word".  Was he wrong to do that?  Because of political correctness should books by Mark Twain be banned?


 

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I don't think we disagree on the nature of the words, JIB, but I do think we disagree on the application of free speech in classrooms. To me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a teacher or professor controlling the language of their classroom, no more so than I'd have a problem with an employer saying that their staff couldn't walk around the hallways of the building dropping F-bombs and slinging racial slurs, no matter how playful or harmless the intent. The First Amendment does not exist within a classroom environment.

 

Once again, this thread is about PC not free speech (though they do intertwine at times).  I disagree with your last comment though.  Where is it ever stated that our Constitutional Rights don't exist in certain places?  This can perhaps be another discussion for another thread.


 

Consider this: a student who is otherwise performing well repeatedly uses racial slurs and homophobic language in a class, which frequently derails discussion. The professor expels that student from the course and fails them, and as a result, that student does not graduate on time and loses out on a tremendous job offer that was contingent upon their graduation after that semester. The student then sues the college for violating their First Amendment rights, resulting in lost wages and damage to their reputation.

 

How far do you think that lawsuit would go? Not being sarcastic here. I have a general feeling of how far it would make it, but I'm not entirely certain on that.

 

Your last thought is a sticky subject.  Again, a discussion of First Amendment rights would make for an interesting thread.  As a counter to your argument, what if a student consistently referred to someone as "male or female"?  Does that "derail discussion" within the class?  Should the student be expelled and/or receive a failing grade?