NCJ Number
124745
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 76 Dated: (July 1990) Pages: 44-49
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Racial tensions on American university campuses have been rising for several years.
Abstract
In response to a growing number of incidents, many universities have enacted "conduct codes" prohibiting certain types of racist and other antiminority speech. That tactic has sparked great concern among some civil libertarians, who believe it violates the First Amendment. To understand the debate it is necessary to understand the philosophical distance traveled by civil rights activists since the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. It used to be that the goal of the civil rights movement was integration, however, physical integration of minorities into the mainstream has become inadequate. Most civil libertarians complain that conduct codes adopted by universities to suppress speech offensive to minorities are unwise and unworkable as social policy. However, the movement toward substantial regulation of discriminatory speech is still advancing, having deep roots in revisionist views of the First Amendment, free speech, and equal rights.