Freedom of expression is something that Americans are supposed to hold sacred and central to our way of life. It was so important to the Founders that it was the first right affirmed in the Bill of Rights, and for a time Americans were to be able to express themselves freely (more or less). Sadly, those days appear to be over. In recent times we have not only tolerated open attacks on freedom of expression, we have welcomed them. Americans either want censorship, don’t care enough to put a stop to it, or are unaware that it is happening. Personally, I hope it’s the latter.
Before we get anywhere with this problem we must first examine what censorship is. Most people define censorship as any government action to suppress or eliminate certain forms of expression that have been found to be “objectionable” by a given group or groups of people. This is a legal process. It involves the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of our government, working together to come to a consensus as to what is legally protected as free speech and what can be regulated, penalized or outright banned as obscene. It’s not supposed to be easy to ban speech.
Pornography, for example, is a form of regulated speech. There are laws controlling the production, sale, distribution and ownership of pornography. Most of these are fairly consistent with regards to locale but there is a little variance here and there. Porn laws, like all other laws, are drawn up by our legislators and later tested by the courts. Obviously not all porn is legal. If a government prosecutor feels that a particular piece of pornography crosses the line from objectionable or shocking into the very specific realm of obscenity, they may take legal action to censor the material, first obtaining permission from the judiciary to execute warrants of search and seizure. Then they execute those warrants by raiding warehouses and offices, seizing property related to production such as camera equipment and computers, and making arrests. If the court decides the material is “obscene”, then judgment is made and prison sentences as well as fines are usually in order.
This is exactly what happened to a man named Paul F. Little, AKA Max Hardcore. He was recently released from Federal prison after serving over two years related to obscenity charges brought against him by the FBI. Mr. Little produced porn that depicted activity well outside what most people would consider “mainstream” sexual practices. His videos were quite shocking and explicit, even to people familiar with pornography. However, Mr. Little’s videos featured consenting adults engaging in otherwise legal activity. Not to get too specific, but the Feds didn’t actually lock him up for producing obscene materials, they got him for mailing them to a location in the U.S. where the “community standards” didn’t favor the particular flavor that Max was selling.
Paul F. Little (AKA Max Hardcore) served over two years in Federal prison for being too sexy.
Whenever people talk about censorship, they are almost always referring to the kind of government action that landed Max Hardcore in prison. But this isn’t by any means the only kind of censorship out there, and indeed is not the focus of this piece. There is another, more insidious and frightening type of censorship going on and the people pushing this agenda are the very last people you would expect. They count among their ranks artists, actors, writers, and comedians. They are the people who historically have been staunch defenders and exercisers of free speech. They openly profess their love and appreciation for the First Amendment, and regularly lampoon right-wing evangelicals who seek to censor material that they find objectionable and potentially harmful to children.
When politically motivated fundamentalist Christians campaign to remove books from school libraries, or when they speak out against rappers and rock musicians who glorify violence and hedonism, the free speech advocates in the art and entertainment community are the first ones to stand up in their defense. They loudly condemn those who would pull books from libraries as closed-minded fools and defiantly proclaim “I read banned books” on bumper stickers and buttons.
But there is a serious and jarring disconnect in this community. They seem to understand that the First Amendment isn’t about protecting popular speech. It is actually about protecting the right of the people to express the most unpopular of ideas. The problem is, a staggering number of these supposedly free-thinking folks are quite willing to step up and openly advocate censorship and the stifling of free expression, even by force in some cases. Of course, in their view, they are not advocating censorship at all, because censorship is when the government shuts someone up. When they do it, it’s called “creating a safe environment for x” or “raising awareness of x”. The unnamed variable “x” is whatever progressive social cause they feel like inserting at the moment.
This group uses language as a subtle, yet powerful weapon to tilt the playing field of debate before any ideas are ever in play. Their favorite buzzwords are the aforementioned “awareness”, followed by “tolerance”, “acceptance”, and “sensitivity”. They treat these words with reverence. In their minds they are holding aloft the banner of enlightenment, boldly marching against “hatred”, “intolerance”, “bigotry”, “ignorance” and “racism”. So before anyone has even begun to discuss a given issue, the progressive protectors of “free speech” have rigged the language and set themselves up as moral superiors, whose opponents by definition are backwards, hateful bigots. They clamor to shout down anyone who dares to think outside of the intellectual/philosophical boxes they have constructed as morally correct ideological packages. And they are consistently winning. Censorship is in. Ask Tracy Morgan.
Tracy Morgan wants to kill your gay baby.
On June 3rd, 2011, the actor/comedian was on stage in Nashville, earning his living. Tracy is known for outrageous, ribald behavior and frequently pushes the boundaries of what is socially acceptable in both his act and his developed public persona. This hardly makes him unique. Comics push boundaries and challenge the status quo all the time; it’s part of their job description. On this particular evening, Tracy began discussing homosexuality. He made statements to the effect that, in contrast to many Hollywood fathers, if his son told him he was gay, he would not support him. Instead, Tracy said he would “Pull out a knife and stab the little nigga.” Social media exploded and Tracy got raked over the coals for his “hateful”, “insensitive” comments. Fellow comedian Chris Rock initially Tweeted support for Morgan, writing “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live in world where Tracy Morgan can’t say foul inappropriate shit.” Bravo Mr. Rock. That was the right thing to do. But not everyone agreed. Wanda Sykes, an outspoken comedian who is an out-of-the closet lesbian, took issue with Tracy’s “hateful” tirade. Here is how she responded to Tracy’s act and Rock’s support via Twitter:
Hey, just back from family road trip. Ok, Tracy Morgan. Good thing I was busy because it would have been ugly, name calling. Pt. 1
Had time to think. Tracy is just a dumb comic. I fault the TN lawmakers. They’ve created an anti-gay environment. Pt2
Don’t believe Tracy would be so ignorant in LA, because we have a mayor, a city council,and police chief who believes we are all equal. Pt3
I do believe in free speech, but for a youth in TN or any other numerous place, Tracy just yelled, “Fire,” in a crowded theater.
Ok, piss’d reading, “I don’t want 2 live n a world where Tracy can’t say…” I Do! U Keep the world, just break me off an evolved country.
@rolandsmartin @AMERICAblogGay Tracy has the right to say whatever he wants to say, just like we have the right to say, not acceptable.
@rolandsmartin @AMERICAblogGay WE as a country. We used to picnic to watch public hangings, but WE figured out, that was some sick s*it.
@rolandsmartin @AMERICAblogGay No, society does effect the comedy stage, that’s why you don’t see anymore white comics in blackface. And it’s up to us if we laugh or walk out.
@rolandsmartin @AMERICAblogGay This isn’t about comedy. What Tracy said is dangerous. We r just trying to protect our kids. Peace and love!
Chris Rock eventually caved to pressure and publicly condemned Tracy’s “outburst”, which is understandable in the wake of Wanda Sykes’ Twitter offensive. Wanda’s style is impetuous and her defense is impregnable. You see, she would never support censorship, unless of course she is the one doing the censoring. In that case she’s all for it. Here is a summary:
Occasionally funny comedian Wanda Sykes has never killed a gay baby.
(1) and (2)- Of course Tracy is just a “dumb comic” under the influence of the hateful state of Tennessee. He engaged in name calling, not because he was trying to be funny and thought he could get a laugh, but because Tennessee lawmakers have created an “atmosphere of hate” for gays. A stand-up comic who says outrageous things for a living felt comfortable enough to say he would stab his own son if he found out he was gay. Disregard the possibility that Tracy was being outrageous on purpose in an attempt to get laughs. Context doesn’t matter. Tennessee failed to create an “environment of acceptance” and thus is not only responsible for Tracy’s comments, but also complicit complicit in any violent acts directed towards homosexuals that can be tenuously tied to such comments.
(2)-Tracy wouldn’t be so “ignorant” in L.A. because the city government feels “We are all equal”. Wanda clearly feels that L.A. is superior to Tennessee because L.A. has succeeded in creating that all-important environment of tolerance. Wanda doesn’t even consider the possibility that SHE was engaging in prejudicial behavior by assuming that the South, more specifically Tennessee, is a hateful place that causes the people there to become hateful themselves. The truth is of course much simpler: “Tracy Morgan said some crazy shit trying to get people to laugh.”
(3) Again, Wanda believes in free speech, except when that freedom is used to say something that offends her and could potentially result in someone misunderstanding the message and hypothetically harming someone as a result…some day…maybe, in which case that particular free speech has to be stopped. Nothing can interfere with the “environment” we need to create, as the need to make everyone feel safe and warm and loved is more important than protecting freedom of speech.
(4) While Wanda still supports free speech, she doesn’t want to live in a country with people who say things she doesn’t agree with or that she finds offensive. Contrary to outward appearances, those aren’t mutually exclusive positions. Take a lesson from Wanda and don’t think too hard about this one. Just accept it at face value and move on.
(5) Wanda feels that Tracy can say what he wants, but she and others who agree with her have the right to shut him up if they don’t like what he has to say, which IN NO WAY means they don’t support freedom of speech. How dare you even suggest it? Are we beginning to see a pattern here?
(6)-(7) I’m going to just give Wanda the benefit of the doubt here because what she wrote is incomprehensible and irrelevant to the discussion at hand, so maybe she was addressing a tertiary conversation.
(8) Here Wanda makes yet another compelling argument against Tracy. We can’t have Tracy saying that if his son came out to him he could go get a knife and stab him! This could lead to *actual* father-son stabbings! Words hurt!!! We must protect the children!!! We’re not creating the right “environment”.
Roman Polanski drugs and anally rapes 13-year-old girls, but he is an artist and doesn't slander gay babies in public.
In order to hold on to his job, Tracy had to make groveling appearances at GLAAD press conferences with his hat in his hand and take his public spanking, as well as complete an “apology junket”. He got destroyed by every progressive talking-head during the process. Even his boss, Tina Fey, someone who should have supported him, spoke out against what he said. Tracy Morgan is not alone. Don Imus, Mel Gibson, Isaiah Washington, and far too many others have been deluded into believing a very common misconception. Tracy believed that the things he learned in school about the First Amendment were actually true. He believed that it protects individual expression in a legal sense, but more importantly he also believed that Americans are generally in favor of the idea itself.
In America we certainly don’t take punitive action against someone for saying something unpopular, as they are merely exercising a Constitutionally-secured right to free speech. We would never make scapegoats out of them and try to ruin their careers. We certainly wouldn’t force them to genuflect as a penance, abandoning dignity and begging for forgiveness. Perhaps the most egregious offense Tracy Morgan committed was his belief that other entertainers who also make their respective livings saying outrageous things and occasionally offending people would come to his defense. They didn’t. They were either afraid to back him up, or they drank the progressive Kool-Ade themselves.
Let’s get one thing straight. The end goal of all of these special-interest groups is not to end whatever social ill they have “waged war” against. Almost without exception, their goals are to build enough social and financial power to control people and remake the world the way they think it ought to be. To do this, they require that social problems continue, and the bigger and more dangerous they can make them seem, the better. They are dragon slayers and they need their dragons. They also need scapegoats to demonize and shame in order to set an example for the rest of us, so we will fall in line like good little sheep. While they feign outrage and anger when an entertainer steps out of line and the fire of negative publicity takes hold, inside they LOVE it. Real free speech is anathema to these groups, because with free speech comes actual dialogue, and dialogue is dangerous because it encourages people to develop their own ideas about morality and politics, and when they do that it interferes with the progressive need to create the “right environment”.
King Diamond drinks the blood of babies, but doesn't discriminate by sexual orientation.
Destroying dissenting speech through legislation is difficult, time consuming and expensive. Plus, it isn’t guaranteed to work and can actually backfire, creating legal precedent that sets the given special interest cause back decades. On the other hand, quieting dissenters and shaping behavior and speech through social pressure is a proven tactic that is much easier and avoids the issue of Constitutionality. While people will actively resist legislation that inhibits freedom of speech, they will actually work to create an atmosphere of social pressure that demands conformity. No one wants to appear hateful. It can cost you your job. If the social climate is one in which everyone is afraid to say anything that could be considered racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, or otherwise offensive due to fear of repercussions, free speech is for all intents and purposes destroyed.
The next time you hear of a celebrity, athlete or news personality being raked over the coals for saying the wrong thing, pay attention to how the “outraged” minority group (who is actually thrilled to have a target to attack) manipulates and controls the language. I believe that the very worst thing the accused can do is drop to their knees and deliver that apology. But fame, money and power are things that no one wants taken away from them, and if a celebrity or athlete dares to offend a protected group without a profuse apology forthcoming, they stand to lose everything they have worked to achieve. But some things are more important than maintaining one’s income stream and status. Freedom of expression is one of those things. I would love to see more people stand up to these controlling, weak-minded assholes and say “Yeah I said it, and I meant it. You don’t control me and you don’t get to censor me. I’ll say it again if I feel like it. Now kindly fuck off.”
