![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vernardI got an email from a co-worker that is a member of an organization on Emory’s campus that is trying to bring issues of racism to the forefront of the campu’s collective mentality so that they can better develop strategies for dealing with it. She forwarded me this email today:
One of the white members of my TCP group shared this story with us last night. We are thankful and optimistic that she is one of many Emory students who do not share in this new breed of hate and is sharing her voice to protest.
What can we do about it?
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231684&page=1
Unfortunately for her, I decided to respond. I won’t send the full text of my email but basically I said “Nothing. and there shoudln’t be anything that you can do about it.” One of the unfortunately and necessary tenants of a society like ours is that folks should be free to think what they want and to also teach their kids the same thing. You cannot legislate tolerance and love any more than you can legislate morality. Nor should you try to. Its a slippery slope that we really don’t want to even get near.“
So exactly how far should the government/society go to protect itself from this type of thing?
One of the white members of my TCP group shared this story with us last night. We are thankful and optimistic that she is one of many Emory students who do not share in this new breed of hate and is sharing her voice to protest.
What can we do about it?
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231684&page=1
Unfortunately for her, I decided to respond. I won’t send the full text of my email but basically I said “Nothing. and there shoudln’t be anything that you can do about it.” One of the unfortunately and necessary tenants of a society like ours is that folks should be free to think what they want and to also teach their kids the same thing. You cannot legislate tolerance and love any more than you can legislate morality. Nor should you try to. Its a slippery slope that we really don’t want to even get near.“
So exactly how far should the government/society go to protect itself from this type of thing?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 08:31 pm (UTC)Now, that said, the idea that they have no interest in letting us talk brings up a pretty obvious solution. Eventually, they will do something physically disruptive. Interrupting polite debate. Blocking a legitimate business. Or something more violent. At that point we can punish them for their violence.
But until and unless they do? We leave them the hell alone. Engaging in active darwinism is a very dangerous thing to do, besides being pretty darned arrogant.