A California woman chose to berate a man for exercising his freedom of speech by wearing a MAGA hat, to which she has every right (so long as she does not violate his rights in the process). However, freedom of speech means you get to have your say; it does not shield you from the consequences. This was a lesson she learned when she was fired from her job for her actions.
But let’s take a step back and analyze her attack on the wearer of the MAGA hat. According to the man she attacked, she screamed at him:
“Hey, everybody come here! This guy’s a racist! This guy hates brown people!”
However, the MAGA hat distinguishes someone as a nationalist, not a racist. Nothing in the tenets of the MAGA movement connote racism. Even if a group of racists take up the MAGA slogan, it does not automatically make the slogan or its proponents racist. When a slogan is hijacked it has simply been misappropriated, and this misappropriation should not be recognized as a stain on the movement it represents.
The woman is also noted to have made a Facebook post regarding the incident stating:
“You do not want to be the person who didn’t speak up as we slipped into fascism.”
However, it is important to note that it is fascism that limits opposing viewpoints, as was attempted by this woman. In America, freedom of speech means that even opinions you find revolting are allowed to be heard (you don’t have to listen). The woman was attempting censorship; the man was attempting freedom of expression. Who is the fascist in this picture?
Let’s try to honor one of the founding principles of our nation and recognize that we all have the right to express ourselves – even when some don’t want to listen.