Kennedy II

Dear Professor Kennedy:

I was quite surprised to read of your remarks regarding the limiting of free speech of the South African Vice Consul Duke Kent-Brown. One would not expect that a member of the Board of Directors of the ACLU would come out as the advocate of suppression or ideas.

I hope you are aware of what you said. "There are times when free speech can be limited." "There are times when it is so far apart [from the community's values] that it shouldn't be tolerated." "Whether or not you would be right in disrupting a speaker depends on what he was saying." "If the speaker were beaten or killed during such a protest, I would have to think deeply about [whether it was justified]."

As one who grew up during the '60s and '70s, I don't recognize these as the liberal and humanistic values that were impressed upon us as the way to transform America into a more tolerant and livable society.

Instead, it reminds me of governments that believe that suppression of speech is justified, and indeed dictated by the common good, and the need for national security. Such nations ban authors, and regulate what the press can and cannot say. They can even justify violence, and murders in the name of the "community good." Arthur Hu