The May, 2020, Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd launched thousands of anti-racism proclamations. Millions took part in that performative aftermath. Include me among those millions. Like many people, I wear multiple hats. One is chairing the Mayor’s Multicultural Forum in Riverside, California. My half-century hometown is a sizable (330,000-person) city, whose steady but not … Continue reading Diversity & Speech Part 16: Creating an Anti-Racism Vision Statement – by Carlos E. Cortés→
Education, particularly higher education, has become ground zero for the clash of inclusive diversity and robust speech. Many administrators and professors proclaim their support of both. So do I. Yes, they can co-exist. But there will be clashes, inevitably. Which means decisions, tough decisions, will have to be made. In the wake of the Memorial … Continue reading Diversity & Speech Part 13: Education and Equity – by Carlos E. Cortés→
For the past two years I have been writing a series of columns about the complicated intersection of inclusive diversity and robust speech. Although my last column appeared just two months ago, in some respects it seems like ancient history. Maybe it is. Because on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, a Minneapolis Police Officer … Continue reading Diversity & Speech Part 12: Systemic Racism – by Carlos E. Cortés→
This is my final (for now) of three columns offering fifty-year projections concerning the following question: as a nation, where will we stand in 2070 when it comes to the contested interplay of diversity and speech? These three columns are based on a December, 2019, public presentation on diversity and speech that I gave at … Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 11: Dehumanizing Speech 2070 – by Carlos E. Cortés→
This is the second of three columns in which I make fifty-year projections concerning the following question: as a nation, where will we stand in 2070 when it comes to the contested interplay of diversity and speech? These three columns are based on a public presentation on diversity and speech that I gave at the … Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 10: Harmful Speech 2070 – by Carlos E. Cortés→
During my tenure as a fellow of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, I examined how the diversity movement of the past half century has influenced our nation’s conversation concerning speech. Then, in October, I ran across a call for proposals to present at a December 2019, symposium on … Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 9: Hate Speech 2070 – by Carlos E. Cortés →
This is the eighth in a series of columns based on my research as a former fellow of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. In these columns I have discussed what I call the diversity movement — the composite of individual, group, and organizational efforts to reduce societal … Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 8: Managing Diversity – by Carlos E. Cortés→
This is the seventh in a series of columns based on my research as a former fellow of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. In these columns I have discussed what I call the diversity movement — the composite of the myriad individual, group, and organizational efforts to … Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 7: Critical Theory – by Carlos E. Cortés →
This is the sixth in a series of columns based on my research as a former fellow of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. In earlier columns I argued that our nation’s system of expression is far too complex to be encompassed by the simple, misleading couplet, “free speech.” … Continue reading Diversity & Speech Part 6: Equity and Inclusion – by Carlos E. Cortés →
The diversity movement has raised myriad issues regarding language and the exercise of speech. Indeed, some critics of diversity efforts have accused its advocates of undermining the U.S. tradition of free speech. Yet that argument is ill-founded, for two reasons. First, because totally “free” speech does not exist in the United States. Second, because establishing … Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 5: Interculturalism – by Carlos E. Cortés→
