At High School Debates, Debate Is Not Allowed | Peter Boghossian & James Fishback
For years, James Fishback has been dedicated to formal debate as a competitor and coach. In 2019, James launched Incubate Debate, a nonprofit organization bringing no-cost, free-speech debate tournaments, workshops, and camps to students across Florida. The organization seeks to overcome economic hardship and increasing censorship in national debate events.
In May, James wrote an article, At High School Debates, Debate Is No Longer Allowed, for the Free Press. He exposed the punishment debaters receive for “what they say and how they say it,” and the ideological constraints judges enact in tournaments. In June, James wrote a second article for the Free Press about tournament punishments based on debaters’ comments on social media—completely unrelated to their debate performance.
In lockstep with the rest of academia, ideas on the debate stage are being censored on the basis of “safety” and ideological conformity.
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I suggest reading a great book written by a formally trained debater: "Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America" by Ted Cruz. Many of his anecdotes involve his experiences as a debater, speaker, podcaster and senator.
This is really sad to hear although not surprising in any way. Glad to see someone creating other options and would love to be a part of them if I could.