Cornel West: I Believe In ‘Unsettled Spaces Rather Than Safe Spaces’

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “First 100 Days,” Harvard University Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy Dr. Cornel West stated he’s “committed to unsettling students in public spaces…you want to have a commitment to unsettling and unnerving students. … And in that sense, it’s unsettled spaces rather than safe spaces.”

West said, “I think brother Robby [Princeton Professor Robert P. George] and I are committed to unsettling students in public spaces, so that you don’t want safe spaces where people are not questioned and interrogated. You do want people to be respected, and people certainly have a right to protest, nonviolently. But you want to have a commitment to unsettling and unnerving students. The only way you grow is by examining yourself and your assumptions, your presuppositions. And in that sense, it’s unsettled spaces rather than safe spaces.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.