Stop Hiding Behind "Free Speech" to Practice "Free Hatred"
Giovanni Corrado
Chief Compliance Officer @ BBVA Global Wealth | Regulatory Technology Expert
By Giovanni Corrado
White Supremacists have no place in the United States. Regardless of your party affiliation, or pro-Confederate believes, you can't disagree. If you do, you will most likely not find any valid arguments to justify your claims.
Fact is, no argument is strong enough to justify hate.
Specially hate based on religion, gender, or skin color. It is truthfully hurtful to admit how divided this country has become in the past five years. This is a country where hard-work meets opportunity, this is the country of the American dream. The "American dream" doesn't make distinctions among the people trying to pursue it. Whether white or African-American, you should have a fair shot. But this isn't the case.
White supremacists are, honestly, a small group of individuals. Estimates say there are around 20,000 of the in the U.S. Nevertheless, the history of our country has been plagued by systemic disadvantage, racism, and immoral practices. While governments and people turned a blind eye, African Americans were oppressed over and over again throughout centuries.
Then people rebelled. From "I Have a Dream" to the Civil Rights Movement, the community achieved great things and abolished de jure discrimination. However, discrimination kept occurring just as it does today.
I am Republican, I am proud of it, but I will never deny the burdens suffered by the ancestors of my African American friends. Nor will I deny the burdens those same friends suffer now.
On August 12th, alt-right members of group "Unite the Right" descended on the University of Virginia carrying torches and yelling slogans "white lives matter" and "blood and soil." They soon clashed with counter-protestors. And the two groups became increasingly violent.
At 1:42pm a speeding car rammed into anti-racist protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring at least 19 others. The driver of the car, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr was arrested shortly after the incident and was charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of hit-and-run.
The demonstration was one of the largest in modern American history. It is sad to see our country regress in time and drown back into bigotry and violence. I strongly believe this trend is not the fault of one individual in particular. The phenomenon is the result of of several years of accumulated resentment.
On one side, far-right activists are now expressing their hate fueled ideologies. On the other, counter-protesters are not willing to put up with it any longer. Today, Americans can hear echoes of the late 1960s. When groups of oppressors felt threatened by the liberty of others.
When one feels threatened by the liberty of others, only hate can arise.
This country is founded on the liberty. Liberty for all. Clusters of people who decide it is their task to undercut the liberty of others have no role in our society. This is why we all need to speak up. Looking at images or vides and thinking "How Awful!" is not going to make a difference. MAKE A DIFFERENCE, TAKE ACTION! Condemn this trend, show the world this is NOT what AMERICA is about.
#StudentVoices
Giovanni Corrado is a Government & Public Policy major at Franklin & Marshall College. He has founded three start-up, all focusing on the intersection between politics, media, and entertainment. He is now the Founder & President of New Politics Now LLC. Among other things, he has interned at the U.S Senate, U.S House of Representatives, and White House Press Office.
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7 年Absolutely, Giovanni! Too many people use the protection of free speech to incite and take part in violence. They need to get a clear message: hurting other people in the name of exercising one's freedoms is not tolerable. While we exercise our freedoms, we must keep in mind: doing so must not hamper the freedoms of other people, including the freedom to live with dignity and without bodily injury.
Chief Compliance Officer @ BBVA Global Wealth | Regulatory Technology Expert
7 年As always, I thank you for your opinions and willingness to share!
Please continue to call me Gene, as everyone except LI and my 1st grade teacher has done.
7 年So who, precisely, defines “hate speech?” Yes, the words of white supremacists are an easy target, but, seriously, what are the criteria? Any speech that advocates violence against a specific group? Any speech that calls for limiting the rights of another group? Any speech that takes a position different from your own? Many seem all too willing to apply the “hate speech” label to any words that fail to match their world view. Anyone who fails to embrace the “correct” view are guilty of “hate speech” and are immediately labelled a "racist," "bigot" or something similar. Those thus labelled, goes the refrain, must not be able to espouse their beliefs! As Sourya B.anerjee says "Preaching tolerance to everything must mean that we be intolerant to those who preach intolerance." This begs the questions – should we be tolerant to everything? Everything? Really? But if we’re tolerant to everything, then must we also be tolerant to the intolerant? No? Yes? Whatever . . . How did we come to be so intolerant? Intolerance breeds intolerance. Intolerance, even intolerance of intolerance, especially when applied so broadly, forces divisions that can’t be bridged by what commonality exists – it blinds all who espouse it and all suffer it. And it only leads to more and more intolerance and hate.
Out of curiosity. Why you have used picture with Polish people?
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7 年I am at times in a moral crisis in scenarios like these. I am a libertarian. I belive in free speech. And I also know that merely shutting down hate speech doesn't kill the idea. Germany lost by force, but the Nazi philosophy survived, didn't it? The only way to destroy any idea is to counter it at an intellectual level. But alternately, I do agree with what you are stating. Those who preach non-violence cannot get down the stage and allow the violent to use their stage. Preaching tolerance to everything must mean that we be intolerant to those who preach intolerance. Would love to know what you think, Giovanni.