We must denounce the idea of speech as violence

That argument was on toxic display during the last big free-speech controversy at UC Berkeley, over a scheduled speech in 2017 by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. Because Yiannopolous’ inflammatory comments were expressions of violence, protesters argued, it was legitimate or even necessary to counter them with physical violence.

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Indeed, some demonstrators claimed, any riposte to that argument was itself violent. “Asking people to maintain peaceful dialogue with those who legitimately do not think their lives matter is a violent act,” wrote one Berkeley graduate, in the student newspaper.

So I guess she would read this column, too, as a form of violence. And she wouldn’t be alone. According to a 2017 survey of 800 undergraduates around the country, 81 percent think that words can be violent. And 30 percent — that is, almost 1 out of 3 — think that physical violence can be justified to prevent someone from using hateful words.

You can’t have a free university — or a free society — on those terms. Words will always offend someone. And if you construe them as violent, you clear the way for physical assault upon anyone who gives offense.

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