Letter to the Editor: Free Speech is Under Attack

A recent guest column was published about why Critical Race Theory, or CRT, should be banned at Utah State University. I would like to offer a refutation to this column and instead advocate for freedom of expression at USU.  

First, allow me to define CRT and explore its presence at USU. CRT theorizes that disparate racial outcomes are the result of complex and subtle social and institutional dynamics, rather than intentional prejudice. USU has hosted speakers who have discussed CRT previously, and it likely will in the future. USU employee-mandated courses cover Diversity, Inclusion, and Implicit Bias, but these classes are focused on individual behavior and are not dedicated to covering institutional prejudice. My goal today is not to declare my opinion on CRT nor defend the merits of CRT as an ideology, but rather to defend our constitutional right to talk about it, particularly at USU.  

A university is fundamentally a marketplace of ideas, a public forum where good ideas succeed and bad ideas fail.  Exposure to new ideas that challenge our preconceived perspectives starts debates and dialogue on the worthiness of an ideology. This is how truth-seeking has functioned best in the fields of science, politics, and philosophy. The guest columnist appears at first glance to support these ideals and fears that the capacity to truth seek at USU is threatened by Critical Race Theory. They even note their own fear of censorship within their column. In their words, cancel culture “has made people fearful of being bullied, shamed, fired from their jobs, even driven from society just for speaking their mind.” Critical Race Theory, however, is simply an ideology. It is not censorship. It is not a form of cancel culture. The only ideology that can “cancel” or censor other ideas is censorship itself. The columnist ironically contradicts this whole part of their column by later concluding that USU should ban CRT on campus.  

I firmly believe free speech of all kinds belongs at Utah State University. In this spirit of free speech, I would never force you to agree with my opinion, but I can’t help but notice that a ban on Critical Race Theory sounds an awful lot like cancel culture to me. 

Christian Stewart is a USU student studying Management and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems in the department of Watershed Sciences. He is passionate about the environment and loves hiking.

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