Verbal Communication Lynley HoganRe: the case of New York Times vs. Sullivan (1964) and Free Speech
241- /2.2
The Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice William Brennan, reviewed the matter
"against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on
public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include
vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public
officials."
The Court's decision was unanimous 9-0, making California's SB1100 Unconstitutional.
What this means is we, the People, who hired you and to whom you report, may hurt your
feelings all we want with the truth when we see our representatives not representing us, and we
have a complaint.
We, the long-time residents of Los Gatos, are not racists.
We've gotten along for generations without racialism or racism playing a part in our town.
We want to keep it that way.
We don't like racists.
We don't want our representatives to be racist or radical in their beliefs about race.
We want our representatives to represent the people currently living in Los Gatos.
We do not want you representing people who do not currently live here.
We do not want you representing us by our skin color,
for all skin colors deserve to be represented equally as human, and nothing but human.
WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY
Defines Racialism as "a doctrine or feeling of racial differences or antagonism, especially with
reference to supposed racial superiority inferiority, or purity; radical prejudice, hatred, or
discrimination."
One solid example of racism or racialism I read recently in a Mercury News article was
Councilmember Rob Moore stating,
"Our council is all white, and our staff is largely pretty white, so I think we have a lot of blind
spots," Moore said. "I think putting in these institutional systems like a commission that can
systematically bring in nonwhite folks, people that are underrepresented in Los Gatos, will be
really helpful."
That is a racist comment if ever I have heard one, Mr. Moore!
You clearly hate your white constituents (the majority of Los Gatans) as you persecute us and
discriminate against us because we are white!
The skin color of our representatives and our residents should not matter, but their character
and reputation should!
Mr. Moore, did people in Los Gatos vote for you because you have white skin?
Did they vote tor you because your skin color makes you superior?
Are you aware that you and your supporters are racist and hypocrites?
Don't be a racist, Mr. Moore!