Freedom of Speech

1-2 Derek Bok uses an incident of Confederate flag-waving to show the difference between free speech and the racial tensions involved. Some students were offended by the flag, linking Confederacy to slavery. Most students wanted it taken down, but other students felt the flag represented freedom of speech.
3 Different universities have handled this situation in both ways. Banning the flags or letting them stay up.
4 The First Amendment is protected but that does not mean it has to be "right, proper, or civil".
The vast majority of Harvard Students find it insensitive and crude. They also far outnumber the people who put it up and believe in it.
5 The people who put up the Confederate flag obviously knew they would upset the Harvard community and disregarded their feelings.
6 Even though the community is upset about the flag, there is no reason to prohibit it. Although some feelings may be hurt, the First Amendment clearly rules in favor of free speech
7,8,9- Communities have the right to discourage free speech if it affects them directly (too much noise or graffiti. The power of censorship is dangerous. Who is to say what is too offensive and what is not? If we forbid a Confederate flag, when will the American one be banned?
11 Instead of prohibiting flags, we should just ignore them, and the people who used them for attention will whither away or move on to new endeavors. Or we can try to explain why this flag is insensitive to those who choose to wave it.
12 Leaders at Harvard talked with the students. They should "educate and persuade the students, rather than ridicule or intimidate them".
The First Amendment protects freedom of speech. That means any type of speech. We, as people, cannot censor how people feel or what they think. If the idea is offensive or crude, it is still an idea, and anybody can believe in it. The Constitution obviously picks the freedom of speech over the feelings of others. The Confederate flag offended many people, but banning it would just spur more bad intentions. What people in society have the right or the knowledge to censor one thing and not the next. Harvard officials did the right thing and had discussions about the freedom of speech instead of simply banning flags.