#Je suis Charlie: Political Commentary

Hélène Rainville

Who is Charlie?  On January 7^th, a terrorist attack on the French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo, took the lives of some journalists.  I tweeted the hashtag Je suis Charlie (I am Charlie).  As a student-journalist of French heritage, I wanted to express my solidarity with the value of free speech.

Free speech is not practiced the same in all democracies.  Here in America, we have the First Amendment and hate speech can be exercised without any legal ramification.  It is not so in France.  There, you can go to jail for anti-Semitic or racist comments but free speech rules when it comes to criticizing politics or religion.  In the U.S., the press is very reluctant to satirize religion and politicians yet hate groups abound without any worry of prosecution.

After the attack, Charlie Hebdo published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed shedding a tear and expressing forgiveness.  American and English-Canadian media refused to show the image but European and French-Canadian media did.  Despite the shared cultural value of free speech, you can see how it can be applied differently.

Other countries don’t have our First Amendment, yet I think they can be freer to express themselves.  If the Klu Klux Klan wanted to parade up and down Murchison Road, that would be its right but it would not be right.  In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church, which protested at military funerals.  This highlights how our Constitution is flawed by letting hate be free speech.

For me, #Je suis Charlie, is like #I can’t breathe or #Hands up, don’t shoot.  It represents the value of standing up to tyranny and to hatred.   It is important to hold our leaders accountable and question religious beliefs.  On the other hand, I don’t think hate should be protected.  Free speech should have a limit.  It is not the same as freedom of thought.  It is ironic that a person can say hateful words but the books she reads at the library are being tracked through The Patriot Act.  I stand in solidarity with Charlie to say we will not cower in the shadow of terror.