Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for May 1, 2018
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
May 1, 2018: Fifty-three percent (53%) of college students believe that promoting diversity and inclusivity is more important than free speech. A Gallup survey found that 46% take the opposite view and believe free speech is the higher value.[1]
Men and Republicans are more likely to value free speech. Women and Democrats are more likely to place a higher value on inclusivity and diversity.
However, in a recent article for National Review, David French writes that offering a choice between freedom and diversity is a logical fallacy. “Yet that line of thinking posits a false conflict. No one is more empowered by free speech than the historically marginalized and dispossessed. Writing in 1860, Frederick Douglass rightly declared free speech to be the ‘great moral renovator of society and government.’”[2]
The Supreme Court did not apply constitutionally protected freedom of speech to the states until the 20th century. Douglas believed that “slavery cannot tolerate free speech” and that “five years of its exercise would banish the auction block and break every chain in the South.”
French concludes that “the true conflict isn’t between speech and diversity, it’s between speech and the unaccountable power that political and cultural leaders so consistently crave.”
He adds that “speech is the engine that powers American diversity. Individual liberty is indispensable to true inclusivity.”
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- April 30, 2018 – 8,640 retail store closings in U.S. during 2017
- April 27, 2018 – 52 percent of college students oppose speech codes at their school
- April 26, 2018 – 75 billion dollars of legal cannabis sales in U.S. by 2030
- April 25, 2018 – 39 percent of Americans want government to restrict online information
- April 24, 2018 – 46 percent growth in number of home health aides since the recession
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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