Harm, Truth, and Politics: Understanding Students' Reactions to Politically Controversial Classroom Speech

• In Event: Centering Voices: Developing Methods to Support Activism and Overcome Antiracism

Abstract

Recently, controversies over free speech on U.S. college campuses have escalated with the passing of state-level legislation promoting the monitoring of classroom speech and banning the discussion of certain ideas, including Critical Race Theory. Building on prior research on political and racial bias in the application of free speech protections, the purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between political identification, racial bias, and students’ perceptions of politically controversial classroom speech. Regression and path analyses demonstrated a strong effect of political identification on how students’ viewed anti-police and anti-Black Lives Matter speech in the classroom, and that students’ perception of the harm that speech caused and the truthfulness of the statement fully mediated that effect.

Author

• Elizabeth Niehaus, University of Nebraska - Lincoln