The Virtue of the Offensive
It ain't an insult if it is true. It ain't offensive if it is true. It ain't insensitive if it true. It ain't racism if it is true. It ain't inciting racial hatred if it is true. It ain't being anti-you or anti-anyone if it is true. So, logically, you can't say something is anything good or bad till you've proven it is true or false. The presumption of innocence should not be confined to an episode of Matlock mate. Hence, censoring or penalising those who say it can be akin to hiding the truth in favour of maintaining and normalising a lie. The best approach to contending with an illegitimate statement is through efforts to prove it wrong. An informed opinion or decision is based on proving a view wrong, or realising it is right after a futile effort to do the former, in an effort to head toward what's right. This is the only way to ensure that truth is based on the consideration of contradiction, not its eradication. edX