Anthony Bender

Professor McClendon
English 1301.A002 6W1
13 June 2014
A Constitutional Conundrum
How Americas Freedom of Speech can Hurt Her Citizens
This past April, Donald Sterling shocked America by saying on national media, Thats
one problem I have. Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people and some of
the African-Americans, maybe Ill get in trouble again, they dont want to help anybody.
Surprisingly, these words were made during his apology for his prior racist remarks earlier this
year (Gregory 1). As these remarks visibly trend when spoken by Americas cultural and civil
leaders, it impossible to label Sterlings viewpoint as isolated and insignificant. In spite of
perceived progress towards racial equality, these statements made by American public figures
reveal that the issue is far from settled.
Racially charged statements have found their way to the forefront of many political
campaigns, sometimes through the use of dog whistles. The political term dog whistle is the
use of the use of coded, ambiguous language to appeal to the prejudices of certain subsets of
voters (Ferguson 64). When Paul Ryan spoke on a radio show about how there are in our
inner cities in particular, generations of men not even thinking about working..., he was
accused of using a dog whistle to describe a perceived laziness of people belonging to minority
groups, as they often constitute a majority of the population in Americas inner cities (Bruinius).
However, these racial messages are not always so discrete. Ad man Fred Davis rose to infamy in

2012 for an advertisment accused of overt racism featuring an Asian woman with a heavy accent
thanking an American politician for allegedly outsourcing jobs to Asia (Goldmacher 16).
These statements have not found themselves restricted to political mudslinging either.
This past year, Donald Sterling, the former owner of an NBA team, lost ownership of his team,
was banned from attending games for life, and was fined heavily for his racially charged
statements (Levick 1). With a strikingly similar story seen in the case of celebrity chef, Paula
Deen, its not hard to see that statements perceived as racist have been made and continue to be
made by pop culture stars as well as our politicians.
As these statements circulate through periodicals, one questions himself about the exact
application of the First Amendment of the Constitution to these statements. As Lawrence White
seeks to explain this in his article on hate speech, he refers to The Supreme Courts decision on
crush videos. Crush videos are described by the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary
Committee as a form of sexual fetishism in white insects and small mammals are videotaped
being tortured and eventually killed by perpetrators. In response to these videos, a law was
created banning the commercialization of such torture, yet in 2010, an 8 1 decision of the
Supreme Court struck down the law under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
Chief Justice Roberts insisted that when weighing the application of Americas Freedom of
Speech, individuals must refrain from cost-benefit analysis. White explains that, as the law
stands today, an individuals right to Freedom of Speech may not be abridged on account of the
pain or defamation that it causes another individual or group.
As high-profile incidents continue to surface, America is left questioning herself about
the exact amount of progress towards racial equality that has been made by her government and
her culture. With minority groups consistently dissatisfied with the progress made in the last

half-century, and such statements currently under the protection of the Constitution of the United
States of America, the question has no answer in sight.
Works Cited
1. Bruinius, Harry. Donald Sterling comments: Is racism hiding in plain sight? Christian
Science Monitor 28 April 2014: N.PAG MAS Ultra School Edition. Web. 10 June 2014.
2. Ferguson, Andrew. "The Dog Whistle & Other Liberal Tropes." Commentary 133.3
(2012): 64. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 12 June 2014.
3. Goldmacher, Shane. We Take Your Jobs. National Journal (2012): 16 MAS Ultra
School Edition. Web. 10 June 2014.
4. Gregory, Sean. Donald Sterlings Defense Against Racism: More Racism. Time.com
(2014): 1. MAS Ultra School edition. Web. 10 June 2014.
5. Levick, Richard. "The NBA's Response To Donald Sterling's Racism Got Everything
Right." Time.Com (2014): 1. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 12 June 2014.
6. White, Lawrence. Hate Speech And The Supreme Courts Animal-Video Decision.
Chronicle of Higher Education 56.34 (2010): A27. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 June
2014.