This is how I feel too. Technically, he was exercising a right of free speech. And he absolutely deserved a good punch, but he didn’t deserve to be killed for it.
If it had been someone in power who had a direct hand in the cruelty they are causing immigrants and other struggling communities, I would feel much differently about the situation.
I know for many that seems like a dumb distinction, but when it comes to something as important as free speech, I think it does matter.
The US version of “free speech” is broken. It’s not about the freedom to express yourself or share thoughts and ideas, it’s about being able to harm, vilify, slander, and control others with impunity. Most other countries with freedom of expression have corrected this oversight, and hate speech, slander, libel and the like are not tolerated. Or less tolerated, at least. The US has the intentionally broken, abusive neoliberal version of this. Outright lying about others is allowed in the US, and because the only remedy is civil instead of criminal, it naturally favors those with wealth and power.
This is how I feel too. Technically, he was exercising a right of free speech. And he absolutely deserved a good punch, but he didn’t deserve to be killed for it.
If it had been someone in power who had a direct hand in the cruelty they are causing immigrants and other struggling communities, I would feel much differently about the situation.
I know for many that seems like a dumb distinction, but when it comes to something as important as free speech, I think it does matter.
The US version of “free speech” is broken. It’s not about the freedom to express yourself or share thoughts and ideas, it’s about being able to harm, vilify, slander, and control others with impunity. Most other countries with freedom of expression have corrected this oversight, and hate speech, slander, libel and the like are not tolerated. Or less tolerated, at least. The US has the intentionally broken, abusive neoliberal version of this. Outright lying about others is allowed in the US, and because the only remedy is civil instead of criminal, it naturally favors those with wealth and power.
I don’t disagree that it needs to be fixed. My concern is that people who have power now are labeling things like “Free Palestine” as hate speech.
The US can’t even figure out how to identify lies. Those who are in power decide what is true and that can be scary.