In the
latest battleground to test the limits of free speech, the Supreme Court of the
United States is reviewing a Texas case regarding vanity license plates.
This
case involves the use of a Confederate flag on a license plate. An eight-member motor vehicle panel rejected
an application for use of the flag by a driver resident. What this case opens up is this:
1) Who
should decide what gets put on a state-issued item?
2) What
qualifies those individuals to make such decisions?
3)
What’s used as a barometer to fairly, legally, and ethically determine what
should be allowed?
I
believe you allow it all – or none at all.
Free speech is free speech, not subjective, compromised speech. There’s no consistency amongst the states, as
nine states allow the Confederate flag on their license “billboards”.
Plates
that talk of God, abortion, and other hot-button images, concepts, and issues
may get allowed, while some don’t. Why people feel compelled to wear their views on their cars is beyond me. No one’s going to clean your car because they
agree with your bumper sticker, but some may take to cutting you off the road
or vandalizing your car if they vehemently disagree with your views.
The
state can’t take sides. It can’t support
one message while ignoring another. The
license plates are not policy or legislative acts – they are the mere display
of people’s opinions. I think anyone who
wants to wear a Confederate flag on their license plate is an idiot but I
respect their right to showcase their idiocy.
I
couldn’t care if one wants to curse, share a racist name, or call for the
killing of people not like them. They do
us a favor by letting us know how they feel and where they stand on
things. Don’t hide your hatred – share
it – and let us react accordingly.
At the
same time, if you want to promote a positive message of peace, love and democracy,
by all means get out the word to and counter-act the Confederate lunatics.
Making a
plate legitimate or absent won’t change people’s views of feelings. But one license plate that should be
considered is this: Don’t Censor.
That
should be the message that the Supreme Court hands out. Let them put the flag of ignorance and hatred
on a car's license plate. Better that
than to give the state the license to decide our free speech fate. Maybe it’s time to rethink the whole vanity
plate option to begin with, but let’s err on the side of freedom of speech.
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Brian Feinblum’s views,
opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his
employer. You can follow him
on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels
more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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