John Whitehead's Commentary

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."--François Voltaire

Radio personality Don Imus is known for being a shock jock.

In other words, he's crass, cantankerous, offensive, in-your-face and just about as politically incorrect as one can get. It's what his listeners and host stations have come to expect from his "Imus in the Morning" radio show. And his appeal with a large cross-section of Americans is in large part due to his notorious willingness to say on air what others might think but never voice.

Doubtless, his recent description of the predominantly African-American Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" drew crude laughter among his fans. Yet the tasteless remark has spawned a disproportionate level of outrage, magnified many times over by excessive television coverage and the shrill cries of the usual suspects.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have been the most vocal, with Jackson suggesting that Imus seek "rehabilitation." Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were quick to chime in, along with television icon Oprah Winfrey, while Bruce Gordon, former head of the NAACP and a director of CBS Corp., called for Imus to be fired, declaring, "He's crossed the line, he's violated our community. He needs to face the consequence of that violation."

Despite the fact that Imus has since apologized--and had his apology graciously accepted by the women's basketball team, the demands for retribution continued. Although CBS had originally determined to suspend Imus' show for two weeks, it gave into pressure and fired Imus one day after MSNBC announced its decision to cancel the television simulcast. Incredibly, such overreaction to an undeniably stupid, racist slur has almost managed to turn Imus into a sympathetic figure.

And yet despite the cries of righteous indignation and the platitudes calling for understanding and tolerance, American society is still very racist. However, the real issue here has little to do with racism and everything to do with free speech and our commitment, as a free and open society, to tolerate offensive ideas.

The sensible response should have been to use the Imus incident as a springboard for a meaningful discussion on race relations. However, what we got were knee-jerk reactions by people who were quick to take offense and slow to find real solutions to the underlying problems. The consequence of such behavior is an increasing tendency to pre-censor unpopular and detested ideas instead of discussing them and, thus, dealing with them head-on.

However, by allowing the monster of political correctness to trash our First Amendment right to free speech, we slam the door on open debate and dialogue. Ultimately, intimidating people into silence will lead to more grievous problems. Don Imus' statements were crude and certainly uncalled for, but to totally dismantle his life destroys him as a person. Call for an apology. Correct his misguided views. But don't suppress his speech. And, above all, don't annihilate the man.

If people fear losing their jobs or having their lives ruined for uttering offensive remarks, they become afraid to speak. Without a public outlet for their thoughts--hateful or otherwise, they fester in secret. This is where most violent acts are born. And that is why the First Amendment in its protection of speech is so important. It acts as a steam valve to let those who hate release their pent-up anger.

No doubt there will be those who counter that the First Amendment, like all other liberties protected in the Constitution, prohibits only the government from abridging free speech. But its ideals transcend law and government. James Madison, who authored the First Amendment, noted that the purpose of the Amendment was to protect the minority against the majority. And as Madison knew very well, the minority is often made up of extremists who spew forth with offensive speech.

The First Amendment also protects against the mob mentality. In fact, the backlash against Don Imus represents our politically correct society's constant attempts to control the minds of those who persist in thinking that we are a free people. Censoring unpopular speech sends the message that if we don't toe the line, our lives can, and will, be ruined. As a consequence, it not only destroys human beings, it tells us that we can't think for ourselves, we can't hold certain views and we can't speak freely.

This overblown debacle clearly illustrates how far we've fallen as a free society. America once symbolized the very essence of free speech, where society's most arduous and insidious ideas could be put to the test in what Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes coined as the "free marketplace of ideas." Today, however, America has been captured by the chains of political correctness and polite society, or what we might call fascism with a smile.

ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

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