From: dean@MorningStar.Com (Dean Schell)
Subject: Re: Help stop the KKK
Organization: Morning Star Technologies
Distribution: oh
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 21:46:16 GMT

pprior@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior) writes:
In article <1992Apr10.160932.8430@meaddata.com> paulm@meaddata.com (Paul Marchant) writes:
>In article <1992Apr10.111523.21899@athena.mit.edu>, wdstarr@athena.mit.edu (William December Starr) writes:
>|>> 
>|> In article <1992Apr9.231712.18074@ucunix.san.uc.edu>, 
>|> schectr@ucunix.san.uc.edu (ROBB SCHECTER) said:
>|> 
>|> > - On University of Cinncinati campus, we have started organizing a
>|> > counter-demonstration.  The general idea is for it to be
>|> > confrontational but not violent.
>|> 
>|> > - We hope to mass enough people to drown out any speeches, and
>|> > defeat any recruiting efforts the Klan will make.
>|> 
>|> "Hi there... we're a group of citizens who are concerned about the
>|> Klan's negative attitudes towards the civil liberties of others, so
>|> in order to protest against their attitudes we're going to try to
>|> deprive them of their rights to freedom of speech."
>|> 
>|> Bleah.
>|> 
>|> -- William December Starr <wdstarr@athena.mit.edu>
>
>Well, Bill, I think you have things confused here. If the group were
>interested in depriving them of their right to freedom of speech, then
>they might has said something like: we'll shoot anyone who wears a
>white sheet, phyically block the march, violently attack them, etc...
>
>What they are planning on doing, it counter-demonstrate, i.e. exercise
>their rights to freedom of speech as well. Perhaps you'll decide to
>join the two groups and witness the exercising of rights in person.
>
  Shouting down tactics and "confrontational" goals are seemingly ever
  popular strategies in today's society when you disagree with another
  group's platform.  For Queer Nation's shameless lambasting of priests
  during Catholic Mass to the shouting down tactics used by other groups
  to disallow political candidates to speak their minds, it seems to me,
  as noted by William Starr, that it reeks of hypocrisy.

  Let me be on record as being disgusted with the ignorant beliefs of the 
  KKK, and I'm not voicing an attack on QN or any other group as well.  
  I just hate to see well meaning people attemping (as is the current
  vogue) to destroy the 1st ammendment rights of whoever they happen
  to disagree with.

  After all, what happened to the philosophy of "I may disagree with your
  positions and beliefs, but I will fight to the death to preserve your
  right to express them"?  Today it's more like "You offend me, so I'm going
  to prevent you from speaking, whether by legislation, litigation, or 
  simple mob participation."

I have to agree with Paul Prior, I don't see how shouting down speakers
and providing a confrontational atmosphere could fit anyone's definition
of freedom of speech.  I too do not agree with the KKK's beliefs.  And
I would bet that if the people that are organizing the counter
demonstration were having their own speaker's platform and the KKK tried
the same tactics that Robb Schecter mentions, that Robb and his group
would want the KKK arested for violating their 1st Amendment rights. 

-dean
Newsgroups: oh.general