The right to express oneself is guaranteed under the first amendment of the constitution. However, should offensive and demeaning expression be allowed in public institutions, such as college campuses and schools?
There are already some limits placed on the freedom of expression, such as the restraint of using fighting words. Fighting words are the language used to incite violence and put others in danger. A category of fighting words is hate speech or speech that demeans any minority group. Because demeaning speech is such a subjective term, penalizing those who abuse their first amendment rights can be quite difficult. In March 1989, UW Madison passed its hate speech code, which allowed anyone who displayed “discriminatory… behavior directed at individuals that intentionally demean[s]” or “create[d] an intimidating or hostile environment for education” to be disciplined.
In 2016, a fan attended a UW Madison football game wearing a costume depicting President Obama wearing a noose. Other students, offended by the costume, took to social media and tweeted the image and caught the attention of the university. UW Madison asked the fan to remove the “offensive parts of the costume”, but there was no information to point that this request was a result of a violation of the hate speech code. The fan, however, did report to removes the offensive parts of his costume.
Although hate speech and fighting words are still an ambiguous concept, colleges, like UW Madison, have been able to put regulations on what they have determined to be hate speech through various plans and drafts. Public institutions should input their own codes to the best of their ability and be open to change in order to best serve their students.
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