President Donald Trump (pictured above) speaks at an immigration rally. Following an inappropriate display at a Broadway show, it is evident outward support for Trump can be a type of hate speech (Gage Skidmore/creative commons).
Since the Constitution’s signing, Americans have argued over how much the document should control people’s daily lives. While much of the public conversation has recently focused on the right to bear arms, interpretations of freedom of speech have their own conflicts.
At the Sept. 5 evening performance of “Frozen” on Broadway, an audience member seated in the front row began enthusiastically waving a “Trump 2020” flag during the curtain call, according to HuffPost.
Although some would say this audience member’s actions were justified thanks to the First Amendment, this particular display is an act of hate speech and should be treated as such.
There is a time and a place to respectfully share political views. A Broadway musical intended for small children is not that platform.
“Frozen” actor Timothy Hughes, who took the flag and quickly threw it offstage, took to social media to express his concerns over the incident.
“The curtain call is a thank you between actors and audience, a final connection to end a shared experience,” Hughes wrote on Instagram.
Instead of letting the company enjoy the praise they deserved, this audience member chose to flaunt an object that has come to represent hate and bigotry to many people. Whether or not that was their objective, the civil thing to do would have been to wait for a more appropriate time when people were not in the midst of a performance.
“Hate speech is speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits,” according to The American Bar Association.
President Donald Trump has used all of these qualities to defame individuals he does not agree with. Therefore, regardless of intent, outward support for Trump has become equivalent to hate speech.
Verbal harassment that questions people’s humanity takes a serious toll on their mental, physical and emotional health.
“Racist hate speech has been linked to cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and requires complex coping strategies,” according to The Los Angeles Times. “Exposure to racial slurs also diminishes academic performance. Women subjected to sexualized speech may develop a phenomenon of ‘self-objectification,’ which is associated with eating disorders.”
Seeing outward support for ideas represented by a Trump 2020 flag alienates people in public places where they should feel welcome and safe.
The audience member attending “Frozen” should have had the common decency to wait until they were in a more appropriate setting to overtly express their opinion, whether it was veiled hate speech or just a political preference.
Political support for Trump can be displayed in a respectful, appropriate manner, however, when it is malicious and defamatory, it becomes hate speech and must be addressed accordingly.