Speaking Freely

In the week after I arrived in London, Oprah Winfrey breezes in to plug her movie, The Butler. Ordinarily this is one African-American icon I don’t pay much attention to, even with her massive media presence, business skills, and generosity all of which, I, myself, would love to emulate.  That aside, what captured my attention this time was a remark she made concerning the troubles of the Obama Presidency which, at the moment is enduring a near-death experience. Oprah was responding to a BBC reporter’s question about what she felt about American racism. She maintained that Obama’s troubles were in part due to a racism that was so pervasive that it was spilling over into disrespect for the office of the presidency itself.

Well, America’s Bill of Rights protects the country’s citizens in saying, writing or publishing whatever they like, restricted only by certain limits. So the American dissenter, whatever his stripe, gets away with expressing whatever he or she wishes. Even the American flag, that revered symbol, is not safe from the wrath of the citizen who harbours some grievance or the other. By permitting its citizens to express themselves so freely the system affords a safety valve through which harmful emotions can be released, it is believed.

Is this safety valve foolproof? Evidently not. It would seem that, for some, freely speaking the mind may not be enough, and in the unrestrained spirit of America, the temptation to go beyond just speaking one’s mind may be irresistible and, occasionally, extend into violent territory. The country has a few notorious examples of this tendency where, in spite of or because of First Amendment provisions a few get carried away and shoot up not only their fellow citizens but sometimes their President as well. Although the list of successful Presidential assassination is a short one, it is just too horrific, particularly for a much-celebrated democracy.  This intersect between freedom of speech and freedom of action is worrying, especially in this 50^th year of the Kennedy assassination.

The kind of freedom I am talking about is not enjoyed everywhere. In many other places you have to be pretty careful of what you say, write or blog. Otherwise you might find yourself in front of a judge. Or worse. I have been in places where free speech does not sit too well with the authorities. It was stifling, and even now, every time I think about it I get a minor attack of the creeps.  And, incidentally, there is, currently a big brouhaha over comments in the press in which the President of Sierra Leone was likened to a rat. I really can’t imagine why that rodent should have such a bad rap. That’s as maybe. But to reference a sitting president to one of the planet’s least attractive quadrupeds is, in my view, pushing the envelope too far.

Those who would wield such brickbats should not be surprised if the authorities become very annoyed.

I suppose, as in everything else, good manners apply, at the very least.

Tell Fren Tru