On the surface, Carol Paton’s assessment of the “Nattrass affair” at the University of Cape Town (UCT) seems reasonable and balanced (“On racism, academic freedom and knee-jerk responses” (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2020-06-08-carol-paton-on-racism-academic-freedom-and-knee-jerk-responses/), June 9). But the conclusion she draws is ill-considered.
When it comes to race, Paton writes, we all have the freedom to choose whether we say or do things that trigger or offend others. Academics have the freedom not to apply this discretion in their research, but then they “will pay the price and must stand tall when the mob arrives to insult” them...
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