May 22, 2008

It's Apparently Legal To Be Offensive

Hey, the city's Human Rights Commission had been investigating those stupid Family Guy-quoting white power posters, probably made by people who didn't realize the line from Family Guy was a parody.

Anyway, the HRC did some looking into it and found -- in a shocker -- speech is apparently legal in this country. Oh, and if you see somebody putting up stupid fliers, you're apparently not supposed to confront them.

Nick Taliaferro, the Commission's executive director, says if someone is posting or passing out offensive material, call police if need be, but usually don't start a confrontation yourself: "But if you just see them on the street, the best thing to do, most times, is to go to an agency that has an organized instruction manner of confronting them and dealing with them and addressing them and then to talk to people who share your concerns and to find ways to positively counter-act what you're seeing in their literature."

Yes, call police if need be if you see someone passing out offensive material. How dare someone do something offensive here in America. And after you call the cops, be sure to go to the appropriate agency to report your offense.

HR Commission Says Race-Baiting Flyers Were Legal
Tuesday: Speech Police Investigate Posters
May 12: Family Guy-Quoting Racists!

Posted by D-Mac at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2008

Speech Police Investigate Posters

Remember those Family Guy-quoting racist posters noted a little bit ago?

Well, it appears they've spread outside of our little Internet circle? The city's official speech police, the Human Rights Commission, has launched an investigation into those posters!

KYW 1060 reports:

Nick Taliaferro, executive director of the Human Relations Commission, says its response is more like outreach than investigation: "We are not policemen. We don't go out and try to arrest people. What we do is try to proactively engage the community in ways that will resist that type of poisonous engagement of an otherwise very decent community. You won't find better people than you will find at Shiller and Almond Street." Taliaferro says the commission will look to see if the law was broken and if the poster had any effect beyond creating upset.

They are not policemen, yet they will look and see if the law was broken. Clearly, these posters aren't sanctioned city billboards -- someone has to pay with some time in jail.

Phila. Human Relations Commission Probes Racist Fliers [KYW 1060]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:04 PM | Comments (12)