The attorney general in NH has decided to charge two men with violations of NH’s civil rights laws for hanging a banner that read “Keep New Hampshire White” over a bridge. The geniuses involved are being charged with trespass and hate speech and face significant fines. Yet, I have to wonder, if they hung the same banner on their own property, say on a flag pole, there would be no trespass, but would they be vulnerable to a charge of hate speech, nonetheless? Good question.

Lynn Greenky, in her recent book When Freedom Speaks answers this question and more. According to even the most restrictive definition, political speech is most definitely every citizen’s right. With that in mind, is flying a banner that says “Keep NH white” political speech or ‘hate’ speech? How about “Keep NH Straight”? Or “Keep NH Christian”? Are these political statements, or are they hate speech? Depends on your viewpoint. And you have a right to your viewpoint. When one uses the gritty ‘language of the street,’ are you necessarily inciting violence with a “Keep NH White” banner? Or are you stating a political view that appears to be a basic platform of the Republican Party?

Michael Scanlon

Littleton

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