Newnan is a small Georgia town with just 38,000 people. I know only two things about Newnan: a few of my friends from college called it home, and I pass it on my way to visit my mother. Newnan resides in my mind as a landmark at the edge of the Atlanta suburbs, a point where drivers can breathe a sigh of relief that the worst of the metro traffic has passed. Beyond that, it’s the sort of town that makes people ask, “Where?” when you tell them where you’re from.
Until April 21, when a group of neo-Nazis gathered to rally for white supremacy. Residents gathered from all over Georgia in protest of the event. The National Socialist Movement, the more “technical” name for the neo-Nazis, applied in March for an event they estimated would attract between 50 and 100 attendees.
In response, nearly 700 members of law enforcement from 42 different agencies gathered in preparation for the chaos such an event might cause. This proved to be a smart, but unnecessary, choice.
Only about two dozen members of the National Socialist Movement showed up for the rally. Hundreds of counter-protestors attended the event. The Atlanta Journal Constitution article covering the rally called it, “…an event full of sound and fury but signifying very little.”
That could not be farther from the truth. Many of the counter protestors gathered in defiance of what one called “a rise in hatred,” but numbers paint a different picture. When 700 law enforcement officers and hundreds of everyday folk faced down two dozen members of the National Socialist Movement, it sent a clear message: hatred and intolerance has no place in our world.
Even so, the few seeds of hatred continue to cling to life. The “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville last year cost three people their lives. Since then, there have been numerous other “rallies” for neo-Nazis, but each has been met with the same response: far more counter-protestors than Nazis.
In October, a rally held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee brought out a “small” number of white nationalists and more than 600 counter-protestors. The leader of the neo-Nazi Traditionalist Worker Party, Matthew Heimbach, claims the reason the turnout is so small is that, “Most folks burned through a lot of vacation days” attending previous events. The response is almost laughable. At another rally in Pikeville, Kentucky, the neo-Nazis showed up late to their own event. After an uneventful day of shouted insults from both sides, reporters said they heard “the sound of neo-Nazis applauding themselves.”
The behavior of the National Socialist Movement and other white supremacy groups is reminiscent of that of schoolyard bullies. And like bullies, any message they have is lost amid the fury. It’s hard to take seriously the concerns of a group that hates because of a difference in skin color.
Drawing a line between hate speech and free speech
For years, people have argued that hate speech is protected under the First Amendment. In theory, this is correct—the First Amendment makes no differentiation between innocuous comments and blatant racism/sexism/etc.
However, a 1942 court case (Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire) resulted in a “fighting words” doctrine that outlawed insults with the intent to provoke “an immediate breach of the peace.”
Another court case, Virginia vs. Black, described “true threats” as “those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.”
In short, as long as these gatherings do not call for the lynching or harm of others, no laws are broken. These men and women know how to operate within the laws that protect our freedom in order to guarantee their own. So what options are left for the every day folk?
To continue doing exactly as they are doing now: standing up for what is right. It takes only one man, woman, or child to stand up and denounce hatred and evil in this world. In today’s society, more people than ever before are fighting tooth and nail for equality, peace, and love, and it is a beautiful sight to behold.
All of our greatest stories involve a battle of good versus evil—a battle where good always comes out on top. Those stories aren’t fiction. When you next take a look at terrible things happening, look for the helpers. Look for those standing up for good. It makes those stories easy to believe.
As long as people like you and I continue to stand up to bullies—to those that despise others for no reason—hatred will never prevail.
Photo: Barbara Brannon/Creative Commons
So true, A great article, I enjoyed reading it.