February 7, 2017

What's the difference between "safe space" and "safe place"?

5 days ago, we were talking about a resolution in the Madison City Council that would "Designate City Council offices as a safe space, where all residents may enter and be safe and protected."

Threatening to veto the resolution, Mayor Paul Soglin said:
"The consequences of declaring the offices a safe space can be disastrous.... We have made the point that we are a sanctuary city. We are committed to justice. The law is on our side. Let us avoid a futile gesture that that may make us feel good but that does not add to the sanctity of our position and only creates enormous risk."
Today, the news is that the resolution has been rewritten to say — instead of "safe space" — "safe place."

The concern was always that people would misinterpret what the city was offering. I have no idea why changing "space" to "place" matters. I mean, "safe space" is a cultural buzz phrase, some kind of jargon, so it may take on meaning in a weird way or radiate political heat and stir up extra controversy. But to my English-as-a-first-language ear, "space" and "place" — when referring to specified rooms in a particular building — mean the same thing. The question is more what "safe" means. 

ADDED: The City Council meeting on the resolution is going on right now. You can stream it here.

33 comments:

Bad Lieutenant said...

This post is Untitled.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Not anymore, I will go back and read the whole thing.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Meh, those remarks will stand. They made their point. When I think of the desirability of having them all shot or bombed or set on fire, it's not so much for the purpose of having them dead as wondering what it would take for them to be induced to learn that there is no such thing as making a point. Talk is not just cheap, it earns negative interest.

Michael K said...

Fools and the public's money are soon parted,

rcocean said...

"We are committed to justice. The law is on our side."

Really? Maybe law as "interpreted" by the 9th circuit, but not the law that most people know.

Balfegor said...

Well, a "safe space" is, you know, a garden of pure ideology, where each student may bloom, secure from the pests purveying contradictory truths.

A "safe place" is just a sanctuary.

Curious George said...

Some she-beast is talking about her "kiddos." Her is to making Madison a sanctuary island.

madAsHell said...

This is the fall-out from women's suffrage.

Ann Althouse said...

"This post is Untitled."

I normally write the heading first, but I'm aware that makes it less likely that I'll do something interesting with the heading.

But if I leave it blank and write the body of the post first, my instinctive habit of hitting publish makes it very likely that I'll publish with no heading at all.

Hard to figure out what to to do!

Ann Althouse said...

They mayor just finished speaking.

He said Austin, Texas is the finest city in the country.

For standing up for good principles.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

But if I leave it blank and write the body of the post first, my instinctive habit of hitting publish makes it very likely that I'll publish with no heading at all.

When I write emails, I leave the 'To' field blank until I've finished, proof-read, and made sure I've actually attached the attachments.

clint said...

Does this mean that the Madison city council is implicitly labeling the rest of Madison's public areas as unsafe places?

Meade said...

"si"

Luke Lea said...

A safe space nowadays means, as best I can tell, a space in which you are mentally safe from contradiction by others who don't share your most cherished opinions. Sort of like being inside a church.to which you belong, blasphemy not allowed. A safe place is where you and your loved ones are not physically threatened and your property is safe from theft and vandalism.

tcrosse said...

A space what a place is called by somebody who keeps Architectural Digest on the coffee table.

ddh said...

If you don't know the difference between a safe space and a safe place, you don't belong. As Stalin said to the son of an old Bolshevik, "Your father said that, once."

Jon Ericson said...

ddh:
Bang!

Billy Oblivion said...

So a Republican Jew is getting chased into the Safe Place by a Mohammedan Refugee with a fire ax.

Who is going to be kept safe, and how are these fruit loops going to do it?

traditionalguy said...

I love the image of men running from a police mob straight in to the City Council Chamber to grab the horns of the Alter, or the Mayor's Podium, where they become immune from arrest.

Progressive Drama complete with Story Boards. Propaganda Film at 11:00 o'clock.

Jon Ericson said...

Ooh billy, william whatever got a new number Hooray!
Republican Jew!!!

Fuck You
-- Tennesee Williams

Bad Lieutenant said...

Well, once the Republican Jew reloads, any remaining Mohammedan refugees will probably change their minds...or have their minds changed for them.

Rae said...

Is Milo safe there?

rehajm said...

Safe place gives Madison plausible deniability if Trump tries to pull the farmer's market money.

Henry said...

They should build a dome and call it space place.

rhhardin said...

Anna: I didn't know where to go. The hotel's surrounded. I know it's been months, but--

William: This is the place.

- Notting Hill

damikesc said...

"The consequences of declaring the offices a safe space can be disastrous.... We have made the point that we are a sanctuary city. We are committed to justice. The law is on our side. Let us avoid a futile gesture that that may make us feel good but that does not add to the sanctity of our position and only creates enormous risk."

Funny, they don't seem to worry about this unless it impacts the politicians directly.

If this passes, I do hope states decide to become gun rights sanctuary states.

mezzrow said...

"that does not add to the sanctity of our position"

when I read this line, I cringed. What is this guy, a secular priest of government? It appears that he seems to think so. What is holy or sacred about the City of Madison?

Talk about clarity of speech...

sanc·ti·ty
ˈsaNG(k)tədē/
noun
noun: sanctity; plural noun: sanctities
the state or quality of being holy, sacred, or saintly.
"the site of the tomb was a place of sanctity for the ancient Egyptians"
synonyms: holiness, godliness, blessedness, saintliness, spirituality, piety, piousness, devoutness, righteousness, goodness, virtue, purity; formalsanctitude
"the sanctity of St. Francis"
ultimate importance and inviolability.
"the sanctity of human life"
synonyms: inviolability; More

Curious George said...

"Ann Althouse said...
They mayor just finished speaking.

He said Austin, Texas is the finest city in the country.

For standing up for good principles."

Incorrect. He said US News and World report called Austin the best city in the world for standing up against the EO.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

https://www.einstein.yu.edu/administration/environmental-health-safety/accident-injury-reduction-campagin/top-injuries.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=643NfnaCnac

robother said...

Place, The Final Frontier.

Meade said...

Curious George said...
"Incorrect. He said US News and World report called Austin the best city in the world for standing up against the EO."

Yes he begrudgingly noted that the US News and World report called Austin the finest city ("#1 in Best Places to Live") but then Soglin called Austin the finest city because of "its unwavering position in regards to what the governor of Texas did."

kentuckyliz said...

If the city or state guarantees that a certain space or place is safe, then can you sue them if and when you are assaulted or something else unsafe happens to you?

Guaranteeing safety is such an odd concept in a litigious society.

Josephbleau said...

Meade,2/8/17, 10:12 AM. "Ahhh, Iron sharpens Steel therefore Austin sharpens Madison." Cit. Ref. Conan the Barbarian,PhD Scythian studies, UW.