Academics and liberal thought leaders are increasingly vocal about the treatment of professors who are exposed by conservative media outlets for objectionable speech and behavior. This complaint, one shared even by some usual defenders of free expression on campus, was on display in a New York Times op-ed published Monday titled “The ‘Free Speech’ Hypocrisy of Right-Wing Media.”
Author Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor of African-American studies at Princeton University, argued that conservatives who purport to be defenders and upholders of free expression in academia also advocate for the silencing of liberals who engage in speech and behavior to which they object. “When it comes to protecting the speech of people who are most vulnerable to being intimidated into silence — like people of color and gay people — conservatives either are suspiciously quiet or drive further intimidation with wildly negative news coverage,” Taylor wrote.
