Derek Bok Summary In the beginning of this article Derek Bok talks about how some colleges across the United States have problems with freedom of speech and racial tension. He begins to tell about how to students at Harvard University hung up two confederate flags on campus. Some students took that as offensive and racist. After that situation happened, a third student hung up a swastika to protest. A portion of the Harvard students urged to take the offensive symbols down, others wanted them to stay because they believed that it was free speech. Some universities came up with a code that makes these symbols banned because it hurts the feelings of others in the community. Bok claims that we should be able to tell the difference between what hurts our feelings and what is protected under the First Amendment. He says that even though speech is protected under the First Amendment does not mean it is right in any form or fashion. Bok says “I am sure that the vast majority of Harvard students believe that hanging a Confederate Flag in public view—or displaying a swastika—is insensitive and unwise”(p.70) Bok believes that these actions were insensitive. He thinks that just because we do not like a certain form of communication does not mean that we have the right to get rid of it. Cities do have the option to limit their amount of communication in the form of graffiti and too much noise, but confederate flags and swastikas are not under that category. Bok says “If we begin to forbid flags, it is only a short step to prohibiting offensive speakers” (p.70). He thinks that instead of getting rid of the racist comments we should ignore them. By ignoring them we are not giving the comments the attention and then will not cause any controversy.