“My liberties shouldn’t end where your feelings begin.”
It’s a common rallying cry of conservatives and libertarians alike, and it certainly has a point. If we were to curtail freedom of speech every time someone was unkind, Tosh.0 would have single handedly brought about a fascist America. The issue is not, however, with simple unkindness. Far too often, hateful individuals duck behind the first amendment to say every sort of repulsive thing. Yes, these individuals have every legal right to say as many horrible things as they want, but it cannot be denied any longer that every time individuals like Donald Trump and Milo Yiannopoulos open their mouths, they actively contribute to a hate culture, even when what they say cannot be technically construed as hate speech. When individuals of status speak, the whole world watches; when they use this status to promote hatred and intolerance, it only rationalizes and excuses hatred.
One of the better known examples of an individual sniveling from behind the first amendment is Milo Yiannopoulos, the rather infamous editor for Breitbart News. Several months ago, he managed to get himself removed from Twitter for his role in the abuse heaped on comedienne Leslie Jones. When she protested (rightfully so) about some of the filth she had been sent on the website, Yiannopoulos responded that Jones was merely “playing the victim”, later calling her “barely literate”. When Twitter removed him from their website, his response was exactly what you might expect: “Twitter just declared war on free speech — and, in the process, signed its own death warrant… The message to libertarians, conservatives and anyone who loves mischief, irreverence and fun is clear. You’re not welcome any more.”
Really Milo? Sending a women pornographic images of herself is “irreverence” and “fun”? Now, technically, Yiannopoulos didn’t actually send anything of that nature to Jones, although calling her “illiterate” almost certainly had ugly racial connotations. However, as a man of some stature, when Yiannopoulos excuses such hideous actions as “fun”, the message is very clear and very disturbing: this is an okay thing to do. Once he hides behind the first amendment and cries out “free speech”, it tells his gremlin followers that they can do the same thing and wash their hands of any guilt.
If this behavior stopped at the gates of the internet, it might be a little easier to shake off. Unfortunately, this hatred is growing and growing. Perhaps the most well-known example of hateful rhetoric comes from presidential candidate Donald Trump’s comment that many undocumented immigrants are, among other things, “rapists”. This type of rhetoric on immigrants led directly to two Boston men violently assaulting a homeless Hispanic man, with one of the attackers saying that “Donald Trump was right”. Trump’s response was to merely note that his followers were “passionate”, which is perhaps the biggest understatement since noting that Trump’s hair is “slightly off”. This is not “passion”, but legitimized hatred. And unfortunately, Trump shows no signs of stopping, saying that he would apologize “if [he was] ever wrong”.
When individuals of status preach hatred, it makes hatred the norm and allows for widespread occurrences of violence and cruelty. This can be seen whenever religious leaders make snide comments about the removal of homosexuals. Now, for that congregation, prejudice and possible violence have been legitimized.
Fortunately, it can work both ways. This last week, recordings emerged of Donald Trump making extremely lewd, sexist remarks about treating women like objects. As is almost required in such a situation, Trump made a formal apology which was surprisingly earnest. What this apology shows is that if people of status can add to hate culture, they can easily add to a culture of acceptance and love. Time and further actions will show whether or not Trump’s apology can be taken as sincere, but the fact that Donald Trump condemned such behavior is a positive sign. When celebrities and other such individuals recognize that they possess a megaphone of sorts, the results could possibly change the world.
