What Snowflakes Get Right: Free Speech, Truth, and Equality on Campus

by Ulrich Baer

Overview

Angry debates about polarizing speakers have roiled college campuses. Conservatives accuse universities of muzzling unpopular opinions, betraying their values of open inquiry; students sympathetic to the left openly advocate against completely unregulated speech, asking for "safe spaces" and protection against visiting speakers and even curricula they feel disrespects them. Some even call these students "snowflakes"-too fragile to be exposed to opinions and ideas that challenge their worldviews. How might universities resolve these debates about free speech, which pit their students' welfare against the university's commitment to free inquiry and open debate?

Ulrich Baer here provides a new way of looking at this dilemma. He explains how the current dichotomy is false and is not really about the feelings of offended students, or protecting an open marketplace of ideas. Rather, what is really at stake is our democracy's commitment to equality, and the university's critical role as an arbiter of truth. He shows how and why free speech has become the rallying cry that forges an otherwise uneasy alliance of liberals and ultra-conservatives, and why this First Amendment absolutism is untenable in law and society in general. He draws on law, philosophy, and his extensive experience as a university administrator to show that the lens of equality can resolve this impasse, and can allow the university to serve as a model for democracy that upholds both truth and equality as its founding principles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190054199
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ulrich Baer was educated at Harvard and Yale and has been awarded John Simon Guggenheim, DAAD, Paul Getty, and Alexander von Humboldt Fellowships. He is University Professor at New York University, and has published, among other books, Remnants of Song: The Experience of Modernity in Charles Baudelaire and Paul Celan, Spectral Evidence: The Photography of Trauma, The Rilke Alphabet, 110 Stories: New York Writes After September 11(editor), Beggar's Chicken: Stories from Shanghai, We Are But a Moment, and, as editor and translator, The Dark Interval: Rilke's Letters on Loss, Grief and Transformation, and Rainer Maria Rilke: Letters on Life (Modern Library). His podcast, Think About It, is devoted to in-depth conversations on powerful ideas, including freedom of speech, and language that changes the world. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Preface: Disentangling the Free Speech Debate in the Age of Trump, the Alt-Right, and Campus Protests ix

1 Free Speech and the University: What Is at Stake 1

Let Everyone Speak 2

No Simple Answers 4

It Is Not a Matter of Offense 5

Different Rules for Different Speech? 8

The University's Purpose Is to Vet Ideas 11

Speech Serves a Specific Function in the University 13

The Difference Between Expert Consensus and the Public Sphere 16

Robust Debate, but in the Service of Advancing Knowledge 18

The University as an Arbiter of the Truth 20

The Idea of Viewpoint Neutrality 24

Speech Serves a Purpose in the University's Mission of Teaching and Research 27

The Constitution as a Guide to Speech on Campus 29

Is Speech Absolutism the Only Answer? 35

Equality of Participation 36

The University's Commitment to Equal Participation 37

Free Speech Is Grounded in Equality 39

The Bright Line on Speech 40

Proving One's Humanity Is Not Required in the University 42

Speech and Equality Are Linked in Education 44

The Experience of Being Silenced 47

Controversial Speech, Attentive Silence 49

2 From Skokie to Charlottesville: Tolerating versus Condoning Speech 54

The Difference Between Tolerating and Condoning Speech 55

Supporting Speech Rights, Not the Speech 57

The Question of Speech Is Linked to Power 61

Is Violence the Only Limit on Speech? 63

Counter Speech with More Speech 67

3 Free Speech Is Rooted in Equality: Frederick Douglass and Our Country's Inalienable Rights 72

An Incendiary Speech 72

Speaking Outside the Law 74

Free Speech Must Be Rooted in Equality 76

Does Free Speech Depend on One's Legal Status? 77

How Racist Speech Undermines the Point of Free Speech 79

The Inherent Humanity of All Is Not up for Debate 81

Americas Struggle over Equality for All 82

Who Can Draw a Line? 85

Did Free Speech Bring About Equality? 87

4 What "Snowflakes" Get Right About Free Speech 92

5 An Unholy Alliance: What Liberals and Conservatives Mean When They Defend Free Speech in the University 99

Free Speech Is Innate to Human Flourishing 100

A Rare Moment of Consensus: We All Believe in Free Speech 101

The Relativism at the Heart of Free-Speech Absolutism 102

The Risks of Suppressing Hate 108

Free Speech and Religious Belief 109

Self-Governance as a Limit to Bad Ideas 111

The Progressive Case for Unrestricted Speech 114

The Truth Will Always Prevail 114

The Call for Tolerance 118

The American Case for Free Speech: Self-Governance and the Faith in Progress 123

Free Speech and Moral Leadership 125

6 A Slippery Slope, or Who Is to Draw the Line? 132

The Danger of Regulating Speech 133

Exposure to Hate Speech Builds Resilience 134

The Slippery Slope Is a Matter of Faith 136

The Equality Principle Does Not Lead to a Slippery Slope 137

Who Draws the Line? 138

7 Speech on Campus: How It Can Work 145

Speaking "My" Truth 147

We Do Not Have to Choose Between Free Speech and Equality 149

The Language of Argument versus the Language of Force 152

The University as a Test Case for Democracy 154

The Courage of Snowflakes 156

Bibliography 169

Index 177

Editorial Reviews

"Anyone who regards student protestors as over-sensitive, over-privileged narcissists will be moved by Ulrich Baer's new book to think again. Baer explains with great patience why the right to free speech rings hollow unless conditions of equality are in place. Students forced to listen to speakers who implicitly deny 'the worth of their existence' will not feel empowered by the so-called 'marketplace of ideas'; they will feel confused by a university that rejects obsolete and disproven ideas in the classroom but welcomes them when they are retailed by professional provocateurs. Baer's argument is a powerful counter to the First Amendment pieties proclaimed by both liberals and conservatives." — Stanley Fish, author of The First: How to Think About Hate Speech, Campus Speech, Religious Speech, Fake News, and Donald Trump

"Baer's in-depth, impassioned analysis highlights the fundamental issues that are at stake in the debates about campus speech. He shows that these debates reflect not only a clash of legal principles and a generational conflict, but also crucial questions about the mission of the university. Even those who do not agree with his conclusions will do well to consider his forceful case for further reflection and his proposals for action." — Nadine Strossen, Immediate Past President, American Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008), and author of HATE: Why We Should Resist it With Free Speech, Not Censorship

"Baer's book is a spirited and forceful defense of a position far too often mocked, caricatured, or dismissed. Even those who disagree with Baer's views about contemporary campus controversies are well-advised to think carefully and open-mindedly about his examples, his arguments, and his timely analysis." — Frederick Schauer, University of Virginia, and author of The Force of Law

"In a powerful, highly nuanced, and well-reasoned analysis, Baer draws on his experience a multidisciplinary scholar and senior university administrator to cut through conventional slogans and pieties. After thoroughly exposing the contradictions of free speech absolutism, both on the right and on the left, and debunking the political correctness mantra, Baer makes a strong and compelling case for the university inextricably linking free speech to equality as the bedrock of its contemporary mission. Baer's book is an essential contribution to our understanding of the current culture wars over campus speech and to the momentous challenges that it poses to our citizenry." — Michel Rosenfeld, Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University

From the Publisher

07/01/2019

Expanding on his 2017 New York Times op-ed, Baer (comparative literature, vice provost for faculty, arts, humanities, & diversity, New York Univ.; Remnants of Song) argues in favor of putting limitations on those invited to speak at college campuses and defends the "snowflakes," criticized by some as oversensitive students afraid to debate challenging ideas. He asserts that unrestricted speech may have a place in the public sphere but that universities can establish restrictions because they are dedicated to seeking truth and fostering a welcoming environment for all students and faculty. The author contends that women, people of color, and others from marginalized groups should not have to endure hate speech and that the abstract value of unlimited speech should not be allowed to undermine the university mission of advancing knowledge. Drawing upon a career interacting with students and faculty and from a wide reading of academic studies, Baer maintains that the commitment to equality on campuses and in our society justifies excluding extremists spewing racism and hatred. VERDICT A thoughtful, convincing response to those demanding unlimited access to university platforms.—Elizabeth Hayford, formerly with Associated Coll. of the Midwest, Evanston, IL

Library Journal