What is the point of a hate-speech course if one cannot use words that exemplify hate speech? I found the students’ reaction a perfect example of the political correctness that has become a plague in colleges across the United States. No word should be banished from an academic discussion; what matters is context, how the word is used. It is obvious that Professor Rosen was not using it to promote racism, but rather to start a discussion. I find it distressing that Princeton students cannot make the distinction between the use of hate speech to denigrate people and examining what makes a word explosive.

Serban Protopopescu ’68
Miller Place, N.Y.