It’s good to see that the NC ACLU is calling it like it is. Jennifer Rudinger, in this News & Observer story, describes the mob-behavior of those who protested Tom Tancredo at UNC Chapel Hill as “de facto censorship.”
Jennifer Rudinger, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in North Carolina, said the protesters’ actions amounted to “de facto censorship.” She had seen video of Tancredo’s appearance on YouTube.
“This is disturbing,” she said. “That video is chilling.”
Rudinger said Tancredo has the right to express his views against mass immigration, just as students at N.C. State had the right to paint racist remarks against President Barack Obama on the campus Free Expression Tunnel on Election Day last fall.
“Censorship is not the answer to hate speech. Hate speech is protected by the Constitution,” Rudinger said. “If we have the better argument, Americans are pretty smart, and we’re probably going to win the day. That’s the way democracy is supposed to work.”
Absolutely. Which is why it is so ironic and frustrating that we are living in an age when so many people clearly don’t understand the basic rights we enjoy in this country, as evidenced by their willingness to silence others. We’ve seen this movie before and it doesn’t end well.
