This article is a response to the article published in the Daily Gamecock on Feb. 19, entitled "Milo should not have a platform."
Every voice in our democracy, no matter what side, has the inherent right, as an American, to free speech. Fascism, according to Merriam-Webster, includes the “forcible suppression of opposition.” Throughout Thalia Hobson’s article on Milo Yiannopoulos being a fascist, she ironically demonstrates the opposite. Ms. Hobson begins her attacks on Milo’s actions by briefly describing how his speeches on college campuses have directly led to violence. She neglects to include in her article that the violence that took place at his events were carried out by anti-Milo protestors. At Milo’s speech in Berkeley, 150 masked protestors caused $100,000 in damage and attacked multiple peaceful attendees. Suppression of Milo’s inherent right to free speech sounds a lot like fascism to me.
Ms. Hobson then attempts to tie Milo Yiannopoulos’ actions to that of the Republican base. In this argument, she claims, “Him being gay also might play a role, as the party has always had a prominent place for women or minorities with minimal policy experience and insane viewpoints, like Michelle Bachmann or Ben Carson.” This assertion has no merit.
By attempting to refute Milo’s intellect by citing his sexual orientation, Ms. Hobson has lumped together millions of minorities, women and homosexual Republican voters and labelled them as “insane.” The majority of her article contains reasonable talking points that can be debated; this baseless and offensive claim, however, has no place in any discussion. Ms. Hobson goes on to say “…at least a third of white gay men voted for Trump for similar reasons that most white women did — yes, conservatives dislike them, but not as much as they dislike black people.” Here Ms. Hobson labels gays and women who voted Republican as not just stupid, but also racist. I am embarrassed that such close-minded thoughts were published in my school’s newspaper. I hope that Ms. Hobson understands the danger of her gross generalizations and re-thinks her assertion that minority, women and homosexual Republicans are stupid, racist and insane.
In her closing she returns to the topic of Milo being a fascist. Ms. Hobson’s closing sentence emphatically states, “It’s important that we keep that in mind (Milo shouldn’t have a platform) and deny it to others like him who would see others harmed.”
By recommending the suppression of opposition — through forcibly denying Milo and others like him the right to free speech — Ms. Hobson is demonstrating the very fascist ideology she claims to oppose. Every voice in our democracy, no matter what side, has the inherent right, as an American, to free speech.