Hate Speech Ruling America's Political Discourse

By Mildred Robertson

Words matter.

If that were not so, the Founding Fathers would not have put specific protection in the Constitution for free speech.  The Bible would not have stressed that talk can do tremendous good or evil (Psalm 12:4) and that “A perverse man stirs up dissension, and gossip separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28).

Unfortunately, Americans have missed the nuances of how the civil liberty of free speech is supposed to work for the greater good. Free speech was granted to us not to allow perverted politicians to stir up political turmoil and hatred among classes of people, but to ensure that even the least powerful among us would have a voice.

That perversion, fueled by hate speech in the highest political arena, has driven an unprecedented wedge between people of different ethnicities, cultures genders, religions and sexual orientations. We are all pushed to choose a side.

While the investigation is still underway, it appears that some people in Dallas chose a side. I believe that the investigation will show that the perpetrators of these acts were frustrated by the inaction of this nation on the hundreds of unjustified killings of black men, women and children for minor infractions that would probably not have resulted in arrest for a white American. Please understand that I in no way condone the police killings in Dallas; but I understand how a young, frustrated African American might arrive at that decision.

It is a story we have heard over and over again, and the result is always the same. We say a prayer.  We have a march. And next month, another black man, woman or child is needlessly gunned down for no apparent reason, other than being black.  And that voice that the Founding Fathers protected for us is nowhere to be heard.

 We are bombarded daily by a media that has lost its way; filling our airwaves, newspapers and magazines with the opinion of this pundit or that one. They pull out the rap sheet on any victim of a police shooting, and post a mug shot rather than a graduation picture. News is rarely reported these days, and if it is, it is because social media has forced it. This is the very same media for whom the Founding Fathers crafted a special protection in our constitution.

 Words have created an image of the black man that makes the world fear him, regardless of his station in life, the way he carries himself, how much money he has or how much education he gains. It does not matter to America. It does not matter to the police who have been called to protect and serve, not just white America, but me too. That is why there is a “Black Lives Matter” movement, because someone has to change the conversation.

 Listen to the words. . . . There is no threat in them.

 Saying “Black Lives Matter” does not mean that blue lives don’t matter, because they do. It doesn’t mean that white lives don’t matter—they do. It does not mean that brown lives don’t matter. Brown lives also matter.  It would be wonderful for us to say “ALL LIVES MATTER” and for that to include my black self, my son, my brother…but heretofore that has not been the case. 

The fact is, words matter, and America needs a new lexicon.