Hatred and Free Speech

In Southern California, in a section of Orange County inhabited by many Vietnamese, a shopkeeper hung a picture of the North Veitnam leader Ho Chi Minh. A court battle and many demonstrations later, the shopkeeper stubbornly refused to take it down. The newspapers showed a large crowd of Vietnam veterans, including one in a cage, insisting on their free speech right to demonstrate.

The political system, in this case, worked correctly, allowing both sides to express their loyalties and their hatred. This means that it is possible to engage in discussion about what these sides are about, rather than a purely academic question about free speech.

I am old enough to remember the war, though not old enough to have participated. I know very little about the Vietnamese and their culture. I do know that our soldiers fought in a war that was very unpopular, and those who returned felt, very understandably, unappreciated.

I want our veterans to know that my generation, while not a part of the horror of this war, yet feel an extra sense of gratitude to those (our older siblings and uncles) who faced these horrors. We will never forget you, nor will we ever attempt to limit your hard-fought right to express whatever you need to express vis a vis this war. This includes hatred.

I will ask you to understand, then, if you care, why we will not join in limiting the freedom afforded the Vietnamese living in America. It is because we will not allow the naked brutality of your sacrifice to be in vain. Hatred will lead us back to war, and again divide us. We will not allow that to happen. We will not allow your children to face again what your sacrifice was meant to finish.

We have learned the lesson you taught with your blood. We will not forgive those who shed your blood, but we will not hate them. We will, instead, stop them from turning your victory into something hollow and temporary.

March 5, 1999