Vermont Governor's COVID Order Bans “Hate Speech” to “Achieve Cultural Equity”

Vermont is a crucible for Critical Race Theory (CRT) (1), whose proponents have persistently attempted to erode established free speech principles in the name of eliminating “hate speech.” The United States Supreme Court has clearly (unanimously!) delineated Constitutional law regarding hate speech, yet Governor Phil Scott (Vermont) has exploited COVID Executive Orders to impose this unconstitutional CRT agenda.

On June 1, after COVID had largely subsided in Vermont, Governor Scott issued Amended and Restated Executive Order 02-20, which declared

Implicit in this Order is that the First Amendment, and the Constitution itself, are barriers to “...achieving racial, ethnic and cultural equity...” This is classic critical race theory.

Scott’s COVID edict implicitly admits this is unconstitutional. His “Equity Task Force” is commissioned to:


All of these proposals do unconstitutionally restrict speech, under established law. The government can’t ban confederate flags based upon “receipt of state funding” - that is unconstitutional content (and viewpoint) discrimination, barred by existing precedent. Moreover, the pretext of COVID to ban “incendiary flags/images” is preposterous. What of art, or political satire? Was the journalism of Charlie Hebdo “incendiary”?

Public officials audaciously calling citizens racists with neither evidence nor accountability is now commonplace in Vermont, as is private "doxxing," (2) and attacks on numerous individual Vermonters. Such attacks are explicitly encouraged by a hateful, racist ideology that seeks to “coerce others to freedom” in the name of justice. Free speech is being systematically strangulated.

A core tenet of CRT is that free speech has historically been employed to oppress minorities, and is thus a weapon of oppression. Therefore, no opposition to CRT may be broached - it is verboten! Understanding this is key to appreciating what is unfolding in America.

Governor Scott’s effort to “ban hate speech” seeks to open the door to the ultimate hate ideology. It will silence citizens while sowing bitter resentment, which resentment itself will be stifled. This is already happening in Vermont, and growing worse daily.

The U.S. Supreme Court has defined the boundaries of free speech: that is the law, binding on all government action. If Governor Scott and BLM wish to introduce a new Amendment to the United States Constitution to override the Supreme Court’s rulings, that is the legal path to change the Bill of Rights, not sneaky COVID Orders that aggressively trundle well-established liberties.

Vermonters will defy this unconstitutional edict, not because they support hate speech, but because they support clearly established liberties and the Rule of Law, which provide that the Supreme Court’s decisions are binding, even for Governors. And if any incendiary image should be banned, it is BLM flags at Vermont schools and public buildings, already a disgrace to free speech liberties.


NOTES:
1. "Critical race theory is an academic movement made up of civil-rights scholars and activists in the United States who seek to critically examine the law as it intersects with issues of race, and to challenge mainstream liberal approaches to racial justice." Wikipedia
2. "Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly revealing previously private personal information about an individual or organization, usually through the Internet. Methods employed to acquire such information include searching publicly available databases and social media websites, hacking, and social engineering." Wikipedia