Liberals Protest at Free Speech Rally
Today in Boston, several dozen conservatives held a "free speech" rally where an estimated 40,000 liberals showed up to protest against them. Many protesters held up anti-Nazi signs and signs against racism and "sexist bigotry." There were some police arrests made for disorderly conduct and police assaults, but overall it turned out to be a more peaceful protest than the one in Charlottesville last week. The people who organized the rally wanted to be thought of as "libertarians, conservatives, traditionalists, classical liberals, (Donald) Trump supporters or anyone else who enjoys their right to free speech"(CNN). They said they do not support supremacy and violence and that they're not associated with the Charlottesville rally organizers at all.
For further information, check out these links:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/19/us/boston-counterprotest-crowd-video-trnd/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/19/thousands-march-through-boston-for-free-speech-rally.html
Discussion Questions:
Liberals claim they are for "free speech" so do you think it's hypocritical for them to protest a "free speech" rally?
Do you think it was right for them to show up with anti-Nazi signs to a "free speech" rally?
Do you think the protesters were really protesting the group in Boston or the group in Charlottesville?
There are often people at free speech rallies who hold extreme views, regardless of who organizes the rallies. Due to this, counter-protesters are often protesting some of the people attending a rally, but not free speech itself. While this is not hypocritical, it definitely becomes hypocritical when people protest against free speech. In the United States, the Constitution garuntees the right to all speech unless it is directly harmful or explicitly incites violence. By protesting against free speech, one would be arguing that the First Ammendment was unjust, which itself would be a very extreme view. As for the anti-Nazi signs many protestors brought to the Boston rally, this was again probably to protest the extreme views held by some who attend such rallies. I personally think most of the protesters there were actually protesting Charlottesville rather than the rally in Boston, because the rally in Charlottesville was primarily organized and attended by actual racists, whereas the rally in Boston was simply in general support of free speech. However, I do think that many protesters at similar events are people who legitimately despise the concept of free speech when it does not align with their personal views, and will use violence to stop it, such as the 27 protesters who were arrested in Boston on charges that included assault and battery.
ReplyDeleteAs much as the Nazi are a cruel evil group of people, i do not think it is right to protest against them at a "free speech" rally. Considering the fact it is supposed to be peaceful. In my opinion the protestors were really protesting against the Charlottesville group. I think this because they wouldn't have done this back in Charlottesville considering the acts of going against protestors worked out. Ultimately, the protestors felt more safe doing it in Boston because they were really taking digs at the Charlottesville nazi's and racists but knew that they wouldn't be harmed for doing it.
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