Divisive Speech at U of W 

Divisive Speech at U of W

Hmmm, didn't mean to pop back in so soon, but this caught my eye.

It seems a "bake sale" by a conservative group at the University of Washington caused an uproar because, to illustrate its point about affirmative action, the group charged different prices depending on the perceived ethnicity of the people buying the items. This was decried as "tasteless, divisive, and hurtful" by the Board of Regents President.

I really hate that political actions and speech that are characterized as "tasteless, divisive, and hurtful" are condemned on our college campuses. Although we would prefer that political differences could be resolved diplomatically and without offense to anybody, that isn't going to happen. The kind of things that spark people to get involved politically are emotionally charged, and it is the fact that people have been hurt or offended by the actions of others that compels them to get involved. People need to get over their offended sensibilities and engage in the debate instead of fighting over the terms of the debate. And there is no better time and place for people to learn that the world doesn't give a damn about their hurt feelings than while they are in college.