Professor: my popular debate class canceled because students afraid to be labeled

Political correctness has paved the way for the rise of the New Fascists who now control the American education system. It has replaced critical thinking as a requirement at colleges and universities which no longer allow ideas outside of the approved liberal groupthink.

Because of this, students no longer feel comfortable expressing their viewpoints, especially conservative ones, for fear they will be labeled racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, or any number of social justice designations.

Things have gotten so out of hand that one professor has canceled his wildly popular debate course — sometimes enrolling 600 students per class — he has taught for 20 years because the current climate has rendered it impossible to continue.

The University of Texas at Austin philosophy Professor Daniel Bonevac spoke with The College Fix and said he stopped teaching the class “Contemporary Moral Problems” back in 2011 just as political correctness was revving back up and now sees no way he could ever resume the course because of the backlash he would most certainly receive today:

“Students clam up as soon as conversation veers close to anything controversial and one side might be viewed as politically incorrect,” he told The College Fix via email. “The open exchange of ideas that used to make courses such as Contemporary Moral Problems exciting doesn’t happen.”

“It’s not possible to teach the course the way I used to teach it.”

It would be especially bad for Bonevac who is known as a conservative-leaning professor, according to The Fix. His course focused on “four issues fundamental to moral and political philosophy: liberty, first principles, rights and justice.” The topics ranged across hotly debated issues like abortion, the environment, war, capital punishment, immigration, and sexual behavior. Class materials included classical philosophical texts and current articles. Bonevac would lecture the class on Monday with arguments in favor of the particular topic and on Wednesday, he would present the other side. But no more:

“Teaching the course successfully requires presenting a fair balance of arguments, treating each side respectfully but also critically, and exposing students to the best arguments I can find on each side.

“For decades the University of Texas at Austin has been an ideal place to do that. Students bring a wide range of opinions. They’re open-minded. They argue for their own views vigorously while listening carefully to the other side and treating its advocates respectfully.
“Yet, the rise of political correctness and fear of certain types of speech continue to challenge the free inquiry necessary for the success of ‘Contemporary Moral Problems.’

“One or two students who don’t share those qualities mentioned above can shut down discussion and destroy such a course.”

The professor explained that simply exploring the conservative viewpoint on moral issues would prove too triggering to the ever increasing delicate snowflakes who have made free thought pariah for the rest of their class.

“Ninety-nine percent of the students might be excited to encounter arguments they had never heard before, whether they were inclined to agree with them or not,” Bonevac said. “But the one percent who are not can poison the well. Indeed, they have poisoned the well, even if they say nothing in class.”

This has made the majority of students afraid to speak up for fear of backlash:

“Students know there’s a politically correct view on a lot of issues. So, when anything connected to race, sex, etc., arises, I see a lot of students turn off. I think they see it this way: Either what comes next is politically correct and they’ve heard before, in which case it’s pointless and boring, or it presents a challenge to that perspective, in which case it’s dangerous.”

It’s these politically correct goons who are the real danger. The inmates are running the asylum.