If you’re an American trying to shut up someone who is saying something you don’t believe in, you should probably choose your tools carefully.
A woman carrying a sign reading “No Racism, No Hate,” faced off against a small mob of Trump supporters at the Republican National Convention on July 19, in what may become an iconic image from the convention.
Men in suits surrounded the woman, attempting to block the sign’s visibility by covering it with a giant American flag, as a video from C-span captured, and covered her from view with the flag as well.
Given the first amendment of the US constitution guarantees the right to free speech, and the fourteenth guarantees all Americans citizens “equal protection” under the law (the no racism part), it was unfortunate, to say the least.
In fact, the RNC attendee’s use of the American flag as a cover for the sign could serve as a potent metaphor for everything that seems to have gone wrong during this convention.
Jodie Evans, the woman carrying the sign, is a founder of Code Pink, an NGO that describes itself as a “women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.”
Despite incident’s unfortunate imagery, it’s hardly the worst Evans has faced. In 2008, she was arrested after standing beside Sarah Palin at the RNC holding a sign that read “We Need a Peace VP.”