photo: The KKK marches down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. in 1926.
Contributing to criminal chaos of the 1920s was the sudden rise of the Ku Klux Klan, or KKK. In the early 1920s, membership in the KKK quickly escalated to six figures under the leadership of “Colonel” William Simmons and advertising guru Edward Young Clarke. Robed members of the KKK marching down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., with American flags and the U.S. Capitol in the background.
By the middle of the decade, the group boasted several million members. The crimes committed in the name of its bigoted beliefs were despicable—hangings, floggings, mutilations, tarring and featherings, kidnappings, brandings by acid, along with a new intimidation tactic, cross-burnings. The Klan had become a clear threat to public safety and order.
Who watches the watchmen? Who determines which groups are marching for true expression and who are marching as a ‘show of force for how easy it would be for them to murder you?’ It’s too much power to give to any group or body, hence why free speech and freedom of assembly is protected. Is it constantly challenged? Sure, another privelage of being an American. You can lobby congress that this damn rock and roll is corrupting the youth and needs to be censored. It doesn’t mean you are right, no matter how ‘virtuous’ your cause.
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” – Evelyn Beatrice Hall. This is the bedrock of our liberty.
If this is what you belive, then you should really be motivated to action by the fact that we aren’t allowed to burn Israeli flags in the USA.
Also, what would constitute hate speech or a threat of violence?