This pile on and stripping of his livelihood, as you call it , are debate tactics and the peaceful use of speech. Calling someone an asshole and calling for a boycott of their business is a debate tactic. The only justification for capitalism is that the market reacts to the stated desires of consumers. I find this dynamic funny, we expect people to consistently have to justify their existence to people like this guy in a calm rational manner, but somehow there is always some calling a boycott or insults
an overreaction for an exhortation to murder. If my waiter says they don’t like me, odds are I will leave a business, why should I grant more deference to a call for murder?
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I - not being a mind-reader - had no way of knowing that. (Nor is “mind-reading” as easy to google for as “sea-lioning”, so I may still not “get it”.) That doesn’t change anything. I just don’t have the context you assume I have or should have. Or something.
Although, I am again surprised that this has to be a race thing, as opposed to a crotchety old man/football-player thing. I suppose my analogy about the racist grampa did not help much. I thought about going with “No, Johnny, the neighborhood is not going downhill: that building was always a crackhouse. You just noticed it today.” or some such, but I thought the racist grampa would strike more universal chord for the gentle horror of lost innocence.
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That issue extends far beyond a few owners. But you can’t police unspoken thoughts.
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Can I double like this?
Some people think so
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Wouldn’t phrase it quite this way: “…who do not feel the way he does about our national anthem…”
That makes it sound as though the players are kneeling to express their feelings about the national anthem, which they will all tell you is not the case at all. The anthem is just the venue for a protest about something else altogether. We don’t even necessarily know much about each of their feelings about the anthem itself. Point is, the anthem’s not the point.
Though I suppose in a straightforward sense it’s true that they don’t “feel the same way,” in that they clearly don’t feel it’s something you have to stand for or be killed.
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While I think he is rather a bit of a nut, all of you should be standing up for the mans right to speak his mind. Free speech and all you know.
Welcome to Boing Boing, comrade.
No one said he can’t say what he did, but he still has to deal with the consequences of saying it.
Other people have the right to not patronize his business because he decided to publicize his hateful thoughts.
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Quick lesson on law: not standing during the national anthem is a form of protected speech under the US Constitution. Threatening to, or attempting to incite the murder of another person, however, is not.
Flags are symbols, they mean nothing if the thing they’re meant to represent no longer exists, and it seems like a lot of people, including the president, are doing their god damnedest to make sure that which this symbol once supposedly represented goes away. I mean, realistically, the US or at least its non-native inhabitants, have a really bad track record what with all the land theft, deracination, genocide, slavery, segregation, racism, sexism, bigotry, classism… it’s a really long list with a lot of examples that I guess we’re just supposed to conveniently ignore.
Honestly, when I see the comments admonishing people for kneeling or sitting during the national anthem, I can’t help but read it as, “these uppity [epithets] think they’re allowed to have opinions about things!? They’re supposed to be beating the hell out of each other for our amusement, goddamnit.”
Pretty sick shit, when you think about it.
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The Supreme Court RULED on this…SUMMARILY.
Saying something hateful is allowed to a point. There’s no exception for hate speech under the First Amendment’s protection for freedom of expression, unless the speech is direct, personal, and either truly threatening or violently provocative.
Suggesting someone be executed is by definition THREATENING AND VIOLENTLY PROVOCATIVE.
Additionally to @Melz2 's point: freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences.
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Melz2 speaks the truth, as usual.
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the what now
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I mean, such a thing could exist in theory, but not very likely any time soon, not in this climate, probably not in the next 30 years.
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And here we have demonstrated one of the problems with the ludicrous notion that racism is an all-or-nothing, on/off thing. Racism isn’t as simple as you seem to think. It is actually possible to be a little bit racist.
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For those who don’t know Wisconsin politics, Racine has a pretty strongly Democratic population. Unfortunately, it is surrounded by a population that keeps voting for Paul Ryan.
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