Before I start my morning task of writing up Hamilton: An American Musical, a few observations on what I read when I got home. I had just spent three hours watching a musical that celebrated the men that fought for our freedom, and when I read Facebook, I was dismayed. I saw statements such as it was incompatible to be a Proud American and an Nazi sympathizer. People clearly do not understand America, and the strengths and risks of the American experiment. There is a reason the ACLU fights not only on the side of minorities, but on the side of Nazis and Racists.
Simply put: In American you can think whatever you want. You can be racist, you can be Nazi, you can be Socialist, you can be Communist, you can be Democratic, you can be Republican. For the most part, you can even say what you want (however, I believe you cannot encourage violence). You can protest, you can be silent, you can yell, you can scream. Of course, those who oppose your opinions have an equal right to speak back at you with their opposition. So yes, you can be a Proud America and think racist and supremacist thoughts.
What you can’t do, however, is violate the constitution or the constitutional rights of others. You cannot act in such a way that takes away the civil rights of others. You can think as racist as you want, but you can’t act in a racist fashion. You can protest all you want, but you can’t take away the life, freedom, and liberty of others. Had Charlottesville remained simply two vocal protest groups, it would have made the news one day and been gone, a demonstration of America’s strength again to hear repugnant views, relish in our remarkable country that permits people to say stupid things and not be arrested. But protests that kill and injure people cross the line — they move from action that is speech to action that impinges on civil rights and is thus illegal and unconstitutional.
So think however you want. Even write it up and protest — that is your right in this astounding country of ours. I may be offended by your words; I may be glad to know who you are and what you think so I don’t have to go anywhere near you. But I will defend your right to offend me with words. Cross that line of impinging rights. Act to deny any protected class — religion, sex, color, country of origin, orientation, etc. — their right to freedom and we will fight back to protect those rights.
Being an American isn’t easy. Our founding fathers and mothers fought for freedom from Britain so that the King could not dictate what we could say, think, or believe. Every day is a continual fight for those freedoms and rights, even if sometimes it is painful and hard to do. While we recognize the right of those who hold views repugnant to us to speak, we must protest loudly and clearly the movement of that hate from speech into actions against others, actions that took or injured the lives of those also expressing their views. We must use our speech — and our laws — to condemn such actions and ensure that those that take away constitutional freedoms learn what it is like to be deprived of theirs.
