How emailing a speaker changed my view on free speech debates

I used to think banning controversial speakers was always the right call (especially after that Milo incident at Berkeley in 2017). But last semester, I actually emailed a conservative activist who was uninvited from a small college in Ohio, and we had a 30 minute phone call. Hearing his reasoning made me realize I was judging based on headlines, not actual content. Has anyone else talked directly to one of these speakers instead of just reading the news about them?

2 comments

2 Comments

eva_ward8820d ago

Is one conversation really enough to change your whole view on free speech though? Idk, I feel like people can sound reasonable on the phone for 30 minutes but still be pushing stuff that's way worse in practice. Maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't base a full opinion off that.

skylercooper20d ago

Yeah, you nailed it with "sound reasonable on the phone for 30 minutes." That's the thing that gets me too. A lot of people are really good at making extreme ideas sound normal and calm in a short conversation. It takes a lot more time to see where those ideas actually lead when they hit the real world. I think one conversation can plant a seed, but changing your whole view should take way more than that. Gotta see how they act when someone disagrees or when things get messy.