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Reason TV Interviews Occidental College FIREAbout Microaggressions, Support for Free Speech
In the wake of centered on campus racism, students have issued demands鈥攁nd some college faculty are eager to expand on them with a new speech-monitoring reporting system.
Occidental College, which FIREhas written about before, is now considering implementing a for students to report 鈥microaggressions鈥 they claim to have experienced on campus. According to the , faculty recognize the 鈥減ower imbalance鈥 between themselves and students and believe a reporting system is a 鈥渟ubstantive action鈥 Occidental can take to meet student protesters鈥 demands.
Reason TV to find out from students what exactly they believe a microaggression is, whether the proposed system will solve issues of alleged racism on campus, and how strong student support for free speech is generally.
Not surprisingly, most students Reason TV interviewed supported free speech in principle, but not always in practice. With respect to the proposed reporting system, too, some students seemed to agree with it in principle but were unsure of how it would work in practice. For example, when asked if creating a database full of statements that faculty and students make to each other would have negative implications for free speech, one student said, 鈥淚 would say it鈥檚 good to have it in place, but to have college actions against it, it wouldn鈥檛 be beneficial to student life.鈥 Other students had a more optimistic view and believe the reporting system will 鈥渕ake a safer environment鈥 on campus.
the video above for more.
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