Three Years of Hell to Become the Devil: More Political Incivility

The The Curmudgeonly Clerk, Eugene Volokh, and just about everyone else has been commenting on the Young Conservatives of Texas at Southern Methodist University holding a bake sale as 'an act of free speech.' Basically, they charged different prices for the same goods depending on the buyer's race or gender (though they also admitted that, if pressed, they'd just have given away the sweets for free, since they were trying to make a point, not sell cookies).

The Curmudgeon does a good job skewering the SMU officials for shutting down the bake sale, and highlighting some of the hypocrisy that goes on in campus debate. But for the record, someone ought to point out that whatever the First Amendment, the actions of these students were rude, vulgar, and a cheap, sophmoric stunt. Like most 'non-verbal speech,' the differential pricing could have multiple interpretations and was almost certain to offend. It shouldn't have been shut down--but someone should have told their parents, because their parents should have taught them better.

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Giving The Devil His Due

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What is interesting is that they did the exact same thing at Michigan last year. I wonder why it didn't make the news like this did? Strange. (And, no, I'm not being facetious. I'm geniunely curious)

Posted by: Adam Wolfson | September 27, 2003 10:56 AM

I wonder why it's rude, cheap, and sophmoric to use race in the distribution of sweets, but it's a sign of enlightenment to use race in the distribution of university diplomas. This sounds like a case of "one dead man is a murder; one million dead men is a policy" -- a little privately done symbolic wealth transfer via bake sale is "vulgar," a massive state-run non-symbolic wealth transfer via affirmative action is a policy.

Posted by: a fellow devil, apparently | September 30, 2003 12:12 PM

Well, fellow devil: I didn't say that affirmative action was a sign of enlightenment. But even assuming it is not, I may still choose to hold my political compatriots to a higher standard of gentlemanliness and consideration than I might my political opponents. Indeed, I think it's incumbent on me, as a strong supporter of decorum in campus politics, to hold my own side to such standards.

Posted by: A. Rickey | September 30, 2003 12:37 PM

More Political Incivility

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Giving The Devil His Due

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