'Protecting Freedom Of Expression On The Campus' By Derek Bok

"Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus” by Derek Bok, published in Boston Globe in 1991, is an essay about what we should do when we are faced with expressions that are offensive to some people. The author discusses that although the First Amendment may protect our speech, but that does not mean it protects our speech if we use it immorally and inappropriately. The author claims that when people do things such as hanging the Confederate flag, “they would upset many fellow students and ignore the decent regard for the feelings of others” (70). The author discusses how this issue has approached Supreme Court and how the Supreme Court backs up the First Amendment and if it offends any groups, it does not affect the fact that everyone has his or her own freedom of speech. The author discusses how censorship may not be the way to go, because it might bring unwanted attention that would only make more devastating situations. The author believes the best solutions to these kind of situations would be to

ignore so the people who do the insensitive actions would just not do them anymore, because they have no effect or to talk to the people who do insensitive actions and explain to them how their actions affect others.
“Thesis”
Derek Bok claims that the solution to the abuse of the freedom to speech may be to ignore the insensitive action, so it would not receive any attention, which would discourage the person who does it from doing it and the other solution is to explain to the person who does insensitive actions and explain to them the harm they are causing for others.
“Support”
The author supports his claim by providing a lot information in his essay regarding the topic. The author begins supporting his claim by station that universities are trying to allow free speech without any issues and then provides an example that had occurred in Harvard University regarding a Confederate flag. Then the author discusses how the issue had provoked the use of swastika to discourage this, but ultimately failed in trying. The author then begins to differentiate what he believes to be one of the biggest misconceptions we see in the First Amendment and the Freedom of Speech. The author believes that the First Amendment protects our freedom to speech, but not if it is done immorally or inappropriately. Using this the author explains how the example he gave is an example of insensitive behavior and how the students were purposely ignoring the fact that it would hurt people’s feelings. The author then goes into the law standpoint of the topic where the cities are allowed to regulate defacement on buildings and so on, but the use of swastikas and confederate flags are allowed. The author reads a ruling under the Supreme Court that states things like the Confederate flag cannot be prohibited, because it may offend a couple people. The author believes that Harvard should have the same freedom of speech like the rest of the world has. The author gives his opinion when he says that censorship may not be the best course of action, because that may just make conditions between people even worse and more people may begin doing it to show they bend the rules, which would influence more people to do it. The author claims, “once we start to declare certain things, ‘offensive,’ with all the excitement and attention that will follow” may make the people want to “test the limits” (70). Then the author supports his claims by telling the audience that there is a good solution to this, which is either to ignore the actions so it would discourage the people who do them, or to help explain to the people who do these insensitive actions that it is the wrong course of actions. The author provides support to his solution by providing the fact that Harvard University is doing what he had talked about.
“Warrants”
The author expects the reader to know what the 1st Amendment is and what it represents to the nation and what it bestows upon the people. The audience would have to understand college politics and the rule of college. The audience would have to understand World and American History to understand why these flags and actions are considered offensive toward other people. The reader would also want to understand the history of the Confederate Flag and how it is considered offensive. The people who read the essay need to understand the kind of approach the author is coming with when he gives his argument. This may mean that the audience will have to be a little bit open to accept new ideas, because that is exactly what the author provides. The audience has to understand that the other solutions are not the perfect solution for this issue due to the consequences that may arise with its approach. The audience has to understand that if the law makes any actions toward this, it may be more consequential than we ever expect and may hurt our sense of community and weaken it.
“Conclusion”
The article was very effective in discussing about the issue of freedom of speech as it addresses the main concerns one may have regarding the topic.

The author provides many facts that support his argument and makes sure to explain how other solutions would not work to solve this problem effectively. The article provides a plethora of facts discussing how the use of censorship is not the way to go due to its negative connotation and how the law cannot do anything, because technically nothing wrong is really happening the law viewpoint. The author finally concluded his essay by discussing how the solution he proposed maybe the best one they can use at the moment and how the solution has been used and been proven successful. The weaknesses of the essay include lack of information regarding the Supreme Court readings and the fact that he did not cite any sources to show ethos, but he himself was the president of Harvard University so that might have been

enough.