Most Young Americans Don’t Want To Silence Debate

Latest Polls (view all)

In the shadow of the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning USA, a stain now exists upon our nation's collective conscious, a condition that must be excised, or our nation will not function properly as one of a self-governed people. Understanding these long standing truths: What would you suggest as a quick, and, or proper corrective measure?

20% Destroy the Fascist Donald Trump and all of MAGA, because America must never be Great Again.

80% Our self-governed people, and their properly restored institutions, under President Trump, must discover the root causes to properly correct, and save our Constitutional Republic.

0% I thought we had to shut down Free Speech we don't like to save our "democracy," so I am totally confused now.

Click Here to Vote
10 Vote(s)

View all Polls

Most Young Americans Don’t Want To Silence Debate

Published: Monday, October 19th, 2020 @ 5:46 pm
By: John Locke Foundation ( More Entries )

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Mitch Kokai.

Samuel Abrams writes at Real Clear Education about relatively good news for the future of free speech.

Though colleges and universities have been open for only a few weeks, reports are already circulating of speakers and professors being cancelled or even attacked because of their ideas or speech. Yet while many are quick to condemn students and America's younger generation generally as leftists afraid to hear ideas and eager to shut down non-progressive thinkers, this reputation is unfair and inaccurate.

Just-released data make it apparent that younger Americans remain overwhelmingly centrist and open-minded. In 2019, UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute found that 67 percent of first-year college students were open to having their views challenged. Moreover, while large numbers of students regularly state that they do not feel that they can express unpopular opinions, more than two-thirds agree with the statement, "dissent is a critical component of the political process."

As new data from Reality Check Insights reveal, an overwhelming majority of young people are willing to shut down speech regarded as harmful and untrue — such as Holocaust denial, which 70 percent of Millennials and Gen Zers would ban from campuses. Yet large majorities of younger Americans oppose cancelling or limiting expressions of controversial or even offensive views: 69 percent would welcome a speaker on campus who opposed the Black Lives Matter movement, for example, while 81 percent would welcome a guest speaking in support of BLM.

In this area, at least, the young are more pro-free speech than older generations. Just 54 percent of Boomers, for instance, would welcome a supporter of BLM, though 70 percent would endorse bringing in a speaker in opposition to BLM. ...

... Collectively, these new data show that young people are not as closeminded as portrayed — so long as they regard the ideas they're hearing as legitimate. The virtues and vices of BLM are open to debate; Holocaust denial is not. Millennials and Gen Zers welcome discourse on topics worthy of debate but are not interested in giving platforms to hate speech.

Go Back

Login to Leave a Comment

Tax Revenue Still on Pace With Last Year

John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics

Without Lab Time or Facilities, Students Get Lower-Quality Education

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

Mentally Ill, Repeat-Criminal Kills Young Ukrainian Female Refugee. Media Silent. Guess Why.

If a white person commits a crime against a black person, it is a national news story.

Published: Monday, September 15th, 2025 @ 5:21 pm By: Daily Wire

Bill to punish lenient judges introduced in Congress to stop criminal release

would allow civil lawsuit against judge if released criminal causes harm

Published: Monday, September 15th, 2025 @ 8:32 am By: John Steed

poll: 3 most popular politicians in France are all from anti-immigration right

good sign for next French election

Published: Sunday, September 14th, 2025 @ 9:17 pm By: John Steed

Charlie Kirk: A martyr for faith and freedom

By Rev. Mark Creech

Published: Sunday, September 14th, 2025 @ 5:43 pm By: Countrygirl1411

Venezuela Taunts U.S. Navy, Pentagon Fires Back

"This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations."

Published: Sunday, September 14th, 2025 @ 5:43 pm By: Daily Wire

Charlie Kirk, While Speaking to College Students on Campus, Was Shot Dead by an Assassin in Utah

Charlie Kirk, 31 years of age, who was renowned as one of the most important and influential college speakers /Leaders in many decades; founder of Turning Point USA, has been shot dead at Utah Valley University.

Published: Sunday, September 14th, 2025 @ 5:42 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump’s Freeze On Harvard’s Federal Funding

The Trump administration took actions against Harvard related to the anti-Israel protests that roiled its campus.

Published: Sunday, September 14th, 2025 @ 5:33 pm By: Daily Wire

In Remembrance of 9/11

In remembrance of the day that will forever seer the concept of 'evil' in our minds, let's look back at that fateful morning, exactly 11 years ago today to that series of horrific events which unfolded before our unbelieving eyes......

Published: Sunday, September 14th, 2025 @ 5:32 pm By: Diane Rufino

Nigel Farage Spars With Dems As He Warns About ‘Authoritarian’ Crackdown On Free Speech

“This could happen to any American man or woman [who] goes to Heathrow."

Published: Sunday, September 14th, 2025 @ 5:31 pm By: Daily Wire

Charlie Kirk assassin lived with "transgender" partner who he asked for help UPDATED

transgender etchings on bullets now have basis shown

Published: Saturday, September 13th, 2025 @ 1:57 pm By: John Steed

Bleeding under the blade of lawlessness

By Rev. Mark Creech

Published: Saturday, September 13th, 2025 @ 12:22 pm By: Countrygirl1411

Judicial coup fail - Appeals Court nixs Dist Ct order on Planned Parenthood funds

crooked Biden judge had put herself above both president AND congress

Published: Friday, September 12th, 2025 @ 8:09 pm By: John Steed

Kamala Harris book backfires as Biden aides expose her glaring failures

Another failure for Harris

Published: Friday, September 12th, 2025 @ 4:04 pm By: Countrygirl1411

Charlie Kirk assassin tied to ANTIFA, used same message board as Butler shooter

Time to investigate Discord and its users

Published: Friday, September 12th, 2025 @ 3:54 pm By: John Steed

Young Brazilian woman is first refugee from "transgender" tyranny

faced 25 years in prison for "misgendering" a leftie tranny politician

Published: Friday, September 12th, 2025 @ 1:58 pm By: John Steed

RINO Tillis pooh-poohs conservative concerns about Charlie Kirk assassination

tone deaf to the end

Published: Friday, September 12th, 2025 @ 9:18 am By: John Steed

Illegal alien migrants behaving badly - migrants and crime NEWLY UPDATED

illegal alien "asylum seeker" migrants are a crime wave on both sides of the Atlantic

Published: Friday, September 12th, 2025 @ 7:34 am By: John Steed

Fentanyl Crisis Escalates In U.S. Workplaces As China Fuels Supply Chain

"Up from 0.91% in 2023 and double the rate in 2020"

Published: Thursday, September 11th, 2025 @ 9:59 pm By: Daily Wire

Bullets of Charlie Kirk assassin had transgender and ANTIFA words on them

Is this the latest act of "transgender" violence?

Published: Thursday, September 11th, 2025 @ 11:30 am By: John Steed

Ten Years (now 24 years later) After 9/11: a Recollection, a Time to Remember

It was a clear beautiful, royal blue sky day on Wall Street. The S & P futures were up markedly, awaiting a positive open, as I turn to get my first cup of coffee. I return to CNBC to get the morning business news, when I notice that the S & P futures are falling, and they're falling fast.