Freedom of Speech at Harvard
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Harvard University professor Derek Bok thinks that students at the University need to be tolerant of other student's freedom of speech rights and ignore speech that they find personally offensive. Bok was prompted to write the essay, "Protecting Freedom of Expression on Campus" because of certain students displeasure at the sight of seeing the Stars and Bars (Confederate Battle Flag) hanging in public view at the University. Some students responded by displaying Nazi flags as a sign of protest in order to express their disgust. So while many people at Harvard think that symbols of this nature (offensive to some) should be banned, Bok argues that it is essential to protect these displays under the first amendment (Freedom of Speech).
Bok's first points out that just because someone may disagree or disapprove of a certain form of speech that is by no means enough to justify outlawing that speech. The Supreme Court has ruled on issues like this before (offensive vs. free) and consistently has come down on the side of free speech. While Bok agrees that community may prohibit expression to avoid vandalism or other forms of defacement, rules such as this can and must be applied across the board to all types of speech. Bok then explains that his interpretation of past supreme Court rulings tell him that the display of the swastika or Confederate flag is clearly protected under the first amendment. Bok says that a society will have major difficulties outlining what it considers "offensive" and therefore what its citizens can and can't say for fear of offending someone...