Blog Entry #3-Free Speech during WWI

deportation.jpg http://pittstate.angellearning.com/section/default.asp?id=MRG%2D080117%2D112930%2Dkwoestman (22 February 2008).

Few things in US history and politics have been more discussed and protected than the rights of free speech and by extension “freedom of thought.” The idea that anyone in the US can share his or her political and personal views on nearly any subject without threat of censure (unless such views are considered offensive or in the category of “hate” propaganda) is a fundamental right in our country. Unfortunately, the rules regarding the freedom of speech are easily changed during wartime, and the period during and immediately after World War I is an excellent illustration of how these rules were changed. Any thoughts expressed that did not support the war unfortunately were quickly and forcefully repressed. One of the most shameful acts of this time period came with the Palmer Raids and the deportation of 249 resident aliens, including noted feminist Emma Goldman. The 249 were put on a ship and sent to Russia, to be with what Palmer and his cronies felt were like-minded communists. Such thoughts continued throughout World War II and Korea, and many people, including Hollywood stars, found their reputations ruined or put into question during the McCarthy hearings in 1950. Fortunately, such attitudes loosened by Vietnam, and nothing illustrates this better than the actions of Jane Fonda during the Vietnam Conflict. Despite her highly controversial interviews and comments, she was never prosecuted or arrested as a seditionist, indicating that freedom of speech had become of paramount importance. Even today in the war on terror it is easy to see that despite provisions in the Patriot Act, those who express opposition and disgust with the current administration’s conduct of the war and the righteousness of the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan do so without fear of arrest and prosecution.