First Amendment protects us all by sticking up for the despicable

“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.” - Evelyn Beatrice Hall

This past legislative session, state Rep. Martin Daniel introduced a bill he dubbed the “Milo Bill" for Milo Yiannopoulos, the controversial ex-Breitbart writer whose plans to speak at the University of California at Berkeley sparked rioting that caused the cancellation of his appearance.

The bill was supposed to protect freedom of speech on Tennessee campuses, a measure opponents considered unnecessary.

Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, also complained about “naming bills after people that promote racism, pedophilia and hatred.”

Daniel rethought the name, too, after Yiannopoulos was caught on video condoning sex between men and boys. The Knoxville Republican tweeted:  "It will also be known as the Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, & the MLK JR. bill.”

Too bad.

The First Amendment doesn’t need help from the Tennessee legislature. But if it did, a law named after Yiannopoulos would be appropriate. The man makes a living being offensive. That’s exactly what the First Amendment must protect.

A related issue arose last week when the mayor of Portland, Ore., called on the feds to block demonstrators supporting the white supremacist who screamed slurs at women on a light-rail train then stabbed to death two men who came to their defense.

“Hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment,” the mayor declared.

Actually, it is.The Supreme Court has made that clear in cases ranging from a 1969 ruling in favor of a KKK leader who called for "revengeance" against African Americans and Jews to a 2010 decision supporting the Westboro Baptist Church's right to picket a soldier’s funeral with signs saying, "Thank God for dead soldiers."

There's a reason vile speech must be protected. That's where tolerance is put to the test.

There's no need to protect speech with which everyone agrees. If Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Tom Paine or Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the University of Tennessee today, the cheers would be heard in Chattanooga.

Milo? Not so much.

Unfortunately, Americans forget this concept from time to time..

The past year has seen several instances of students trying to stop controversial speakers from appearing on campuses or shouting them down when they did: “Bell Curve” author Charles Murray at Middlebury College; DailyWire editor Ben Shapiro at University of Wisconsin-Madison; actor Gavin McInnes at New York University; white nationalist Richard Spencer at Texas A&M; and provocateur Ann Coulter at Berkeley.

This reflects a fundamental lack of understanding of how the First Amendment functions.

The only effective answer to a bad idea is a good idea. Responding to speech with speech works. Protest is entirely appropriate, if peaceful.

But trying to silence words with which we disagree — even if we find them despicable —will backfire.

Jack McElroy is executive editor of the News Sentinel and can be reached at editor@knoxnews.com.