Freedom of speech gives you power. But how you use that power is just as important as having it.

As is always the case on the Interwebs, people feel like freedom of speech means they can say anything. It’s almost an acceptable practice at this point…just read through a comments section of a blog or YouTube. Lately however it seems this idea has seeped into other media forms. People saying whatever they want. Which, while is their right, seems to miss the point.

https://twitter.com/jonathannorman1/status/414759059662077952

The issue comes from the fallout after someone says something they believe, that others do not. The fallout hits when what they’ve said is controversial and those who employ them don’t want to be associated with such ideas.

When the smoke clears these people want to hide behind the First Amendment. They want want to shove it in everyones face. They can’t understand how something they said which has nothing to do with their professional life, has now impacted their careers. The issue is that as an employee of a company, you are a representative of that company at all times. On the clock or not. When you are a teacher, finding yourself in the police blotter for DUI is not going to please your superintendent. As an actor, spouting off against same-sex marriage or minorities, is not going to win you the adoration of your employer or studio. When these things occur, companies have to take a stand. They have to distance themselves. In the end, it doesn’t matter what the person believes on this topic. It doesn’t matter what the company believes on the topic. It matters how they’re perceived, and they don’t want to be perceived negatively.

Times have changed. In my lifetime things have become less “black or white” or “straight or gay”. That doesn’t mean these issues don’t continue to exist…they surely do. However, talk to most young people about civil rights regarding these areas and they almost always don’t understand. My 8 year old can’t fathom the idea that some people couldn’t share a bathroom or had to sit at the back of the bus. She can’t understand how two people who love each other, are devoted to each other, and want to live their lives together, are somehow different from her own parents. At 8 she doesn’t see color. She doesn’t see sexual orientation. She just sees people.

Surely, over time, over her life, she will find people she doesn’t like or find acceptable. However, this won’t be about race or being gay. It will be about the actual person. It will be about how nice a person is. How they treat others. To put it in her own words after watching a BrainPop video about Civil Rights, “People back then were really dumb…being mean to people just because of skin color…that’s just stupid”.

At 8, she gets it. At 8, she out-classes many adults and “celebrities” when it comes to topics like “gay marriage” and “civil rights”.

It’s amazing how much you can learn from a child.