Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Which country is the dictatorship?

Yesterday, Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen was suspended for five games for claiming he "loves Fidel Castro." Recently, in an inner city school in Michigan, eighth grade teacher Brooke Harris was fired for discussing the Trayvon Martin case with her students, and helping them to organize a fundraiser when they expressed sympathy for his family. And last year, the Tuscon Unified School District in Arizona shut down their Mexican-American Studies program, because it was "in violation of the law." The law, ARS 15-112 bans classes designed for a particular ethnic group that "promotes resentment toward a race or class of people." it is difficult to see how any African-, Native-, or Mexican-American course could be taught without raising some feelings of resentment.

It is ironic that in a country that prides itself on its first amendment, a certain segment has such a difficult time actually allowing free speech. And yes, while Limbaugh took some flack for referring to a young female student as a prostitute, he still has his job, so it's not quite the same. Even so, we should be willing to defend anyone's right to their opinion-- even assholes. That's the thing about a free society. Even the assholes are free.

Getting back to the Miami situation, it is, of course the Cuban exile community in Miami that is up in arms in reaction to Ozzie's comments. And they are not content with a five-game suspension. They are demanding his dismissal. It is exactly this attitude that led to the Cuban Revolution, and got Batista's supporters exiled in the first place. Had they been more tolerant and willing to listen to the concerns of their equivalent to our 99%, there probably would have been no need or support for the Revolution.