Bigoted hate speech undermines the true spirit of free speech

Garland, Texas, my childhood home for 16 years. I grew up there. Where I learned to ride a bike, planned mischief with my friends, and had my first kiss. I graduated at the Curtis Culwell Center, the epicenter of an attack by two gunmen who were both killed by event security. To think that my home could become the site where a bigoted event can be held and subsequently stricken by violence is unimaginable.

The “Muhammad Art Exhibit,” hosted by “activist” Pamela Geller, was a cartoon contest evidently meant to promote free speech and fight against the Islamic threat. President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative and author of the blog “Atlas Shrugs,” Geller is a prolific anti-Islamic writer and has run numerous campaigns to combat what she calls creeping Islam. She and her associates drew in cartoonists for a chance to win $10,000 for the best cartoon of Muhammad; a $10,000-prize bigotry competition.

Hiding behind the cause of free speech, Geller is polarizing America by inciting hatred within our communities. Repeatedly stating in her blog and at various events that the majority of Muslims support radicalism because they don’t condemn the actions of a few time after time or going on Fox News to call the attack a “war” instead of calling for a communal discussion only evokes more violence and subverts core American values in the name of “free speech.” Even Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik quoted Geller in his manifesto justifying his actions in killing dozens of innocent children and teens.

Geller claims this event’s aim was to promote free speech and counter an “anti-free speech” event hosted in January. The “anti-free speech” conference, also called Stand With the Prophet in Honor and Respect, was held to discuss controversial issues, including terrorism and hate speech. It was an open forum where Muslims and non-Muslims alike could participate in a discussion on hate speech.

America is supposed to be an open, tolerant society where people who accommodate differing ideologies can thrive without the overbearing threat of intolerance and violence. Unfortunately, this is apparently no longer the case.

Look at the outreach conference three months ago. Droves of protestors showed up to the event claiming it was proof of Sharia Law in Texas. However, there was no one with signs outside of the Curtis Culwell Center on Sunday. Few in the community saw fit to speak out against the event. On the other hand, the Muslim community of Dallas declined to protest the event in defense of Geller’s right to free speech, least their loyalty to America be questioned.  For two radicals, however, it seems violence was the answer. Violence is never the answer. This bigotry spreads as much hate as Geller’s competition.

May 3 was a day of senseless violence in response to a senseless event. We cannot back down in the face of violence. We cannot allow hate to infect us and allow it to change the values on which this nation stands.

It’s time for America to stop. It’s time for Americans to talk about this kind of speech. It’s time for Americans to ask: should it be allowed? Should it be tolerated? Following Voltaire, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” We do have the right to speak our mind but we cannot tolerate those who seek to abuse that power for the sake of hate. However, Sunday’s incident in Dallas reveals just how complicated the issue is.

Speech is our most powerful weapon. With our words we spread our thoughts and opinions. Philosophy, government, revolutions, progress itself would not be possible without our ability to convey these ideas in speech. And through these thoughts, actions emit. Actions become movements in human history. Speech brings us as one people closer together and allows us to connect with one another beyond our natural limitations.

While freedom of speech is necessary for an open society, we must understand that this is a powerful right. Speech molds people and societies. Speech makes us what we are. With speech, we convey our ideas to one another and have done this throughout recorded history.

Hitler used his ideas to infect an entire nation and impose his “final solution” onto an entire continent. Stalin utilized warped Marxist rhetoric to push families and communities against each other in a conflict that killed millions.

Martin Niemöller wrote about the fear the of confronting hate in First they came… Paraphrasing, we cannot stand idle when hate is at our doorstep even if it doesn’t affect us. There is a line that must be drawn between free speech and hate speech. While all speech is free, there is a danger associated with allowing hate speech to ferment within our communities. It polarizes us and results in the perversion of traditional American values of equality, liberty, acceptance, and, in general, freedom.

Bigotry is not what we stand for. The purpose of our right to free speech is to provide an open platform from which people can express grievances and ideas without harm. It is not to enable those who seek to pervert our American idealism by vilifying others via hate. We cannot tolerate the intolerant. It is not what we stand for.

Yoss is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin studying Middle Eastern Studies and History in the Liberal Arts Honors Program.