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| Dear Kent Street Friends, They want to call it speech but it is so much more than speech. It is behavior with real world consequences. When a young, Jewish state legislator puts out a friendly Karaoke invitation to her colleagues, Republican and Democratic alike, and is met with a post on X that states “we need a final solution for theater kids in politics” (emphasis added), that is not mere speech…it is a clarion call in a world where the “Final Solution” led to the murder of six million Jews and where antisemitic violence is rapidly escalating – that is a threat, whether explicit or implied. When a Filipina American legislator rises to speak against anti-immigrant legislation on the State House floor, only to have a colleague call for her deportation, by name, in real time, by tagging a top White House official in yet another post on X, that is not mere speech, it is targeted harassment. When a nonprofit dedicated to equity and justice is labeled “the enemy,” forcing it to spend thousands on security while its young staff fear walking to their cars alone at night, that is not mere speech, it is an incitement to harm. When a constituent writes her own representative a private communication urging him to support free school meals, only to find herself publicly doxxed and accused of being a groomer for having the gall to feed her daughter’s best friend an extra meal here or there, that is not mere speech, it puts someone directly in harm’s way and leads to the most insidious form of slander. When a NH representative invites a known Holocaust denier and Nazi sympathizer to a hearing on extending the Commission on Holocaust and Genocide Education, proposes adding a Holocaust denier as a permanent representative to the Commission and himself endorses Holocaust denialism, that is not mere speech but instead an attempt to supplant truth with the most dangerous of lies. When hours upon hours are spent on bills dehumanizing, demonizing and erasing Transgender people from the protection of our laws and the inclusion in our communities, this is not mere speech, this is sheer cruelty. Terrible posts on X inviting and inciting hate. Racist, antisemitic, anti-immigrant, anti-Trans stereotypes used to justify hate-filled bills. Hateful bills becoming law. All of this is an invitation to action and we have seen the deadly consequences. The question is, why has the House GOP leadership failed to impose any kind of meaningful discipline on those who have been blatant in their hateful words and actions? Yes, a hearing finally took place last week to consider consequences for one of the most blatant offenders, Rep.Travis Corcoran. But no action has been taken against Rep. Sabourin dit Choinière for inviting known Nazi sympathizers into a committee hearing. No action has been taken against so many espousing hate and yet Rep. Wendy Thomas has been removed from her committee simply for supposedly being “difficult,” and Rep. Ellen Read has been banned from the House ante-room for having said the F-word a tad too loudly. Hate speech is like the proverbial flutter of a butterfly’s wings…it can be nothing but a brief disturbance of the wind or it can be the thing that sets off cataclysmic storms an ocean away. What we are seeing here at the State House are the cataclysmic storms. Speech that swirls around until it inflicts its damage. In this case, the damage is intended. Please, if you can, join us on Tuesday when the House Legislative Committee meets in Executive Session to vote on whether Rep. Travis Corcoran will receive any disciplinary action or none at all. The session is at 1:15 pm at 1 Granite Place in Concord. We must make clear that targeted hate is a disqualification for public service in NH. We must demand accountability. With eyes on the prize, Louise |
Kent Street Coalition 