To those who are being freshly exposed to The Clarion this semester, and those whom have returned as readers – the “Editorial” section of our newspaper, by definition, is meant to represent the holistic opinion of our editorial staff.

After the events in Charlottesville on Aug 12. we, the editorial staff, felt the need to respond because as a newspaper, we understand the power words hold. Words can be used as a facilitator and an amplifier for ideologies, whether racist and bigoted, or progressive and open-minded.

While here at The Clarion we are proud to say that we are defenders of the First Amendment, and strive to defend the American Peoples’ Constitutional freedom, we have to acknowledge the words used at Charlottesville operated as a microphone for white nationalist and anti-diversity ideology.

Of course we, as responsible purveyors of the news, unanimously agree that the first amendment freedoms are essential for a functioning democracy. The first amendment assures that all voices, even the voices of those most marginalized, have a platform to be heard. But when exploited, as it was in Charlottesville, the first amendment has the power to hurt those it’s meant to help most.  
As we watched the events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia unfold, we couldn’t help but come to the emphatic conclusion that, while we recognize and respect our journalistic obligation to protect the First Amendment freedoms of the American People, we have to acknowledge that the speech used by white nationalists at the rally was used to suppress the freedoms of the marginalized rather than enhance them.

For example, the rally cries in Charlottesville escalated from inflammatory slogans such as “White lives matter,” to chants that represent even uglier ideologies. Hordes of white nationalists chanted “F— you, faggots,” and “Go back to Africa!” according to Huffington Post Reporter Christopher Mathias.

As human beings, we have an obligation to stand up against intolerance and extremism in all its ugly forms. We refuse to remain silent or neutral when horrors such as the ones that took place in Charlottesville take place.

Hate speech is not just saying words that are not nice. Hate speech is language used to cause in fear in the marginalized group it is being spouted at. In Charlottesville, hate speech was used to intimidate counter protesters, to scare them from using their own right to free speech, and that is not right.

Even though the speech it free, it is not without consequence. We have to recognize that the hate speech in Charlottesville harmed people of color and queer folks by perpetuating harmful racist and bigoted ideology.

We as a newspaper firmly believe that certain freedoms can indeed be egregiously perverted to the point of causing irreversible harm to others.

As former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once said: “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.”

Finally, we think it’s also important to point out that this opinion is in no way politically-motivated; this isn’t a Republican-Democrat issue. It isn’t a Trump-Obama issue. It’s a human issue. You should all rest assured that we strive to hold ourselves to exceedingly high standards that go far above any form of politicking, or using events to promote our own individual agendas.

While we would never dream of speaking out or publishing stories against people whose opinions we disagree with, be it on a political level or otherwise, we wish it to be abundantly clear that we believe in a line, a very crossable line, where certain speech becomes hateful, repulsive, senseless, dangerous, toxic garbage. This speech leads to hatred and pain and has no place in our society, be it technically-legal speech or not.