Should we Allow Hate Speech?

Should we allow hate speech? Should we punish people who are exercising their right to protest? The freedom of speech is one of the most important rights, if not the most important. Having the right to say what you want allows people to be critical of their government without fear of being arrested. Our current political environment is testing what this right is and how liberal we should be with it. There have been many protests on both sides of our political divide that question what is right regarding free speech. The controversy around Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem and then not getting picked up by a team was unfair and punishing him for using his freedom of speech rights. The NFL players kneeling is important to protect because all ideas deserve a fair hearing and them kneeling during the national anthem makes their feelings heard over a bigger audience. Kaepernick talked with service members before he decided to kneel to determine what would be the best course of action to take. Then the NFL dropped him from his team and he didnt get picked up again. They have made rules about players kneeling that violate their rights. It was wrong for the President to say they should be fired if they kneel. He should protect their right to peacefully protest. Many people are calling on others to boycott the NFL for their stand on this issue, including not advertising during the Super Bowl or not performing during the halftime show. The Neo Nazis in Charlottesville also have the right to peacefully protest as long as they dont call for violence or are violent. It is easy to protect freedom of speech when what is being said most people agree with. It is much harder to do it when it is something we reject. If we deny their right to speak or peacefully protest, it emboldens them and makes their message more powerful. The best thing would be to let them speak, but no one listen so they didnt have a platform. The KKK has been spreading literature around this area and creating fear in people in the region. This is an example where its difficult to protect freedom of speech. Just this week, there have been three incidents of hate filled violence in this country. A man sent pipe bombs to CNN and leaders of this country, another man killed two people in a Kroger grocery store, and lastly a man killed 11 people in a Jewish synagogue. Many have said that President Trumps hate filled and racially charged comments at his rallies have radicalized these men to doing violent acts. Germany has enacted hate speech laws to try to get rid of social media and news media posts that are inflammatory, but how do you police that? Social media has billions of users and making the companies police this themselves seems like something that is impossible to do. We have to choose as a society who we give our attention to. It is up to us to police ourselves and others. Freedom of Speech is a fundamental right that was given to us by our founding fathers because they had lived under tyranny and knew the power that it provided. Our current administration is trying to curb those rights and the rights of the press and consolidate power because they know that to silence us is to weaken us and limit our freedoms. Though we dont always agree, we must protect our right to say what we believe.

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