I am glad to see a fellow Jew sticking up for free speech.<\/p>\n
Law professor Erica Goldberg blogs<\/a>:<\/p>\n According to the Harvard Crimson, Harvard has revoked the acceptances of at least ten students admitted to the Class of 2021. These prospective students formed a private Facebook group chat to exchange offensive memes. They mocked child abuse, made racist jokes, and endeavored to deride all of the stances that we, academics and students, promote and hold hear. These students behaved immaturely and offensively. What Harvard did in response was much worse.<\/p>\n Have you ever played Cards Against Humanity? It\u2019s an unabashedly irreverent game whose purpose is to be as cleverly offensive as possible. The game uses cards to create inappropriate associations, on topics we are generally not socially permitted to mock \u2013 such as AIDS, the Holocaust, and dead babies. Even many good liberals love the game, precisely because the humor is so wrong, so contrary to our values. There is something appealing about the freedom to be irreverent and dark.<\/p>\n A major appeal of irreverence is its assertion of independence over strong social norms. Strong, prevailing social norms can feel oppressive at times, even if they are good norms, and the rebellion of breaking social taboos demonstrates that we can still think for ourselves. Joking also eases tension around difficult topics, issues that have become polarized, or events that our culture depicts only in black and white. I take the Holocaust extremely seriously, and feel great anger at how the world watched the Jews of Europe get exterminated. But I can enjoy a Holocaust joke in the right setting. The two are not mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n The idea that some topics are above humor is misguided. Humor is inherently subversive. By ferreting out the members of this private chat group, requiring that they present to Harvard every meme sent over the chat, and revoking their acceptances, Harvard has proven that there is an oppressive force to transgress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I am glad to see a fellow Jew sticking up for free speech. Law professor Erica Goldberg blogs: According to the Harvard Crimson, Harvard has revoked the acceptances of at least ten students admitted to the Class of 2021. These … Continue reading