Free Speech and Political Correctness in American Universities in the 1990s -- cases study

• Main Authors: Ya-wei Lin, 林雅微
• Other Authors: Thomase Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/90350538392849683105

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 美國研究所 === 89 === In United States, “political correctness” is a newly developed term since late 1980s. People usually call it “p.c.”. Most people are afraid of being called “political incorrectness”. In American universities, any political incorrect speech or activities, which targeted on anyone of color or different gender and sexual orientation, are intolerable. From the early 1980s, many universities started to adopt “speech code” or “censorship” policy to bar any “political incorrect” speech found on campus. From the first case of speech code in university, “Doe v. University of Michigan (1989)”, American universities never successfully restrained people’s right of free speech with speech code in the courts. This thesis also conducts research and analysis on four other cases, which are UWM Post, Inc., etal. v. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin (1991), Iota Xi Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity v. George Mason University (1993), Silva v. University of New Hampshire (1994) and Cohen v. San Bernadino College (1996). In these cases, courts all ruled that speech code in these universities were unconstitutional under the First Amendment of United Sates Constitution. This thesis explores the nature of political correctness in American universities in conjunction with the essence of free speech in a democratic society through court cases and tries to elucidate the conflicts between political correctness and free speech in American universities in the 1990s.