I am a proud supporter of the First Amendment in all capacities-- assembly, speech, press, religion, and petition. I am NOT a supporter of racism, homophobia, bigotry, xenophobia, or hate speech. In Charlottesville, Virginia this weekend, we saw an outstanding display of freedom of speech and assembly, and then saw that go up in flames that were lit by dollar store tiki torches.
I think that everyone has a right to have a voice no matter your race, creed, gender, orientation, or religious beliefs. And I don’t mean the usual “You have the freedom of speech until you hurt my feelings and say something I disagree with” bullcrap we see today. What I mean when I say we have the freedom of speech is that even if I disagree with you, you still have the right to say what you wish to. My disagreement with you and what you have to say does not take away your right to say it. BUT. I do have a problem when what you say starts riots, causes harm (not just hurt feelings but physical harm) and concern for the safety of those around you. The protesters in Charlottesville had a right to peaceably assemble. I do wish that since the protest was going to continue as planned, the governing bodies would have been more careful and set forth clear guidelines as to what was considered peaceful. But as soon as the white supremacists wielded torches, walked in with their KKK-style garb, and started walking with a Nazi salute, that is where the First Amendment did not matter. Those symbols are full of hate, and the people holding and wearing those symbols did not care about how they were impacting the lives of those around them. Their goal was to strike fear into the lives of others. Which, if I am remembering correctly, is terrorism. From what I gathered, which may be wrong, but still, the protest was about a memorial Confederacy statue. And if that was truly what the protest and demonstration was for, then that’s fine. But now that is not the issue. That is not what that protest was about. It was an opportunity for hateful people to come together to strike fear in the hearts of African Americans and other minorities and prove to them that they think they are inferior. Which is why the statue was to be taken down. The statues are said to be representative of a time when black people had no right to stand for themselves and I see that we haven’t moved away from that now. Racism is alive. You cannot deny that anymore. If you do not believe me, look in the streets of Charlottesville. That riot was the stitches opening back up on a wound many people chose to see as healed. We cannot ignore that now. I would have said, last week even, that if the KKK had a rally in my hometown, to ignore them. They are a small number of people whose thinking will hopefully die with them. But this riot gave racists the main stage. They have a voice now. They hit people with cars and we are supposed to ignore it? If we do that, we are giving them permission to do it again. If a child hits another kid on the playground and an adult sees it but chooses not to get on to them, the child now thinks that hitting is okay. DON’T LET KIDS THINK IT’S OKAY TO HIT OTHER KIDS. DON’T LET RACISTS THINK IT’S OKAY TO BE RACIST. I am a supporter of the First Amendment until it becomes dangerous. I am a supporter of love and compassion for all beings. I am a supporter of African Americans and minorities. And I will never let hate have a home here.
0 Comments
|
AuthorGabrielle Willingham is a young Arkansan woman who sees the importance of simultaneous cynicism and optimism. Gabrielle is currently working on a MA in Communication with a focus in gender studies and political science. Archives
January 2021
Categories |