Say What You Need To Say…Or Don’t
So let’s talk about free speech and the difference between hate speech, offensive speech, racism, and criticism. I am not sure when people got these so confused, but I think it was in November 2016.
Whatever the nature of your speech is (hate, offensive, racist or critical), almost all of it falls under the First Amendment which states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
When I say “almost all” speech is protected, I mean that the Supreme Court has determined that some speech is not protected. A great example is yelling “FIRE!” in a crowded theater. This is not protected speech. But for the most part we are allowed to say what we want in America.
What you don’t read in the First Amendment is a clause that says “freedom from consequences”. As free as you are to say what you want, I am just as free to disagree with it and say the opposite. This can also pop up in other ways. If you say something I disagree with and you run a business, I can decide not to go to that business any more. Or if I employ you and you say something contrary to what is good for my business, I can fire you for it. You’re free to say it. I am free to respond. It’s a two-way street and it usually kept a check on people saying stupid things. Until now.
So let’s dive deep into stupid things and discern them, and their consequences, from each other.
Recently a CrossFit studio in Indiana cancelled an LGBTQ Pride themed workout. They said they did so because having such a work out was contrary to their beliefs about what CrossFit is. I guess one CrossFit with Donna Summer blaring was going to end the world, but whatevs. It is their right as business owners. In response many of the coaches and gym members quit. Which is their right. The gym closed.
Now the gym claims that they have been unfairly treated because they should be allowed to believe what they want to believe and still be able to run their gym. This is not how capitalism works though. And what I do know about America is that if there is one religion, it’s called capitalism. Perhaps if they had run a business that refrained from interjecting their own personal feelings into running it, and let the Donna Summer workout happen, people would be more inclined to continue going there. Remember that two-way street we talked about earlier?
You see, not everyone needs to know or wants to know your opinion about anything really. If I went to that gym I would probably be really irritated that the owners decided to share their feelings about LGBTQ people because that would mean I need to find a new gym. Why couldn’t they just shut up?
One of the CrossFit Executives decided to insert themselves into the conversation with praise of the gym owners views on LGBTQ Pride. He added that he himself see’s celebrating Pride like “celebrating sin”. This exacerbated the problem from a local franchise problem to a broader brand problem for CrossFit everywhere. He was swiftly fired. He just as swiftly claimed that it was unfair that he, a CrossFit executive, who shares his personal belief on his personal Twitter account that tells everyone he is a CrossFit executive, would face such backlash. Wha?
In this scenario the larger company, CrossFit, is not owned by him. But when he speaks about the brand and franchise in a way that is crossways with either company policy or in a way that harms the brand, then that company can respond by firing him. It’s not that the guy isn’t allowed to have an opinion or that he isn’t allowed to share it. He is. In fact, he did. It was just a shitty opinion and it hurt a large cross section of the customer base. Gay men and women spend a lot of money on working out. Go to any circuit party. He is a dumb business person and should be fired.
So what about Roseanne? Comedian, Roseanne Barr recently had her hit show cancelled by ABC because of a tweet she put out that likened Valerie Jarrett, a black woman and adviser to Obama, to an ape. There is more nuance to the tweet than that, but you get the gist.
Historically, black people have been likened to apes for as long as black people have been in America. It is a way to dehumanize their existence and is about as racist as you can get. It’s not even ambiguously racist. It is overtly racist. Whether you understand why or not is irrelevant. It. Is. Racist.
Roseanne apologized, but ABC cancelled her show. Roseanne was free to tweet the racist thing and ABC was free to fire her. Everyone got to say and do what they wanted. Was everyone happy about it? No. But if Roseanne wanted to keep her show then she probably shouldn’t have tweeted something racist. ABC didn’t want to cancel it. That show was making them millions. The cast didn’t want it cancelled. They were getting paid. Everyone was winning, until they weren’t. But everyone got to say what they wanted. Again, no violations of free speech here. And the Constitution protects all of our right to say racist, homophobic, sexist, terrible things. It’s one of those weird things that makes America great.
Homophobia and racism are just hard sells when trying to reach a broad customer base. It’s why Coke and Pepsi and making ads with Nazi’s drinking Coke.
Another comedian, Samantha Bee, called White House adviser and daughter to the President, Ivanka Trump a “feckless cunt”. The sexist term was used during a segment where Bee was talking about the separation of migrant children from their families. That same week that this story was breaking, Ivanka posted a tone deaf photo on Instgram of her holding her son with a beautiful sentiment about her child and her family. Bee meant for the segment to draw an ironic parallel between the photo of Trump’s daughter/adviser and the many families being torn apart at the border. Some people were offended.
Bee apologized and lost a few sponsors, but her show continued. Some people were upset. Why, they wondered, is Roseanne’s hit show cancelled for her racist tweet when Bee’s show continues after her sexist name-calling?
To me this seems pretty obvious. There is a moral and social difference between a white woman calling a black woman an ape and a white woman calling another white woman a cunt. Both are offensive, sure, but one means something darker than just poor taste. Both are free speech, both came with consequences for the two comedians, but one got a stronger reaction than the other. But, you might reassert, one was racist and one was sexist. Isn’t that the same?
No.
As I mentioned before, a white person calling a black person an ape is not the same as a woman calling another woman a cunt. It’s not delivered the same and it isn’t received the same. If I, a gay man, called another gay man a “faggot”, I would be granted leniency because I also can and have been called a faggot. The same with the N-word. The same with any similarly situated minority on minority name calling. We get a little bit of a pass when we attack our own, even if it is offensive to others. Had Jimmy Fallon called Ivanka a cunt, things would have happened differently.
We all know how these rules work. Why everyone has forgotten them now, I have no idea.
The point here is that all of these people used their free speech and suffered the consequences for it. Where this idea that the consequences of trying to discriminate, dehumanize or demean someone are somehow unfair came from, I do not know. But it is silly. But it is not silly to understand that this is the tip of the iceberg for a devolution in how we talk to each other and about each other.
Say what you will, but don’t be surprised if someone tells you to shut the fuck up. In fact do your self a favor and say nothing in the first place.
