Council Member Clarke v. Miss Jones

According to Daily News Caribbeat columnist Jared McCallister, Not 97 radio personality "Miss Jones" is in hot water due to the comments she made about the Transit Workers Union and its president Roger Toussaint. McCallister says: ...in a recent broadcast of Jones' morning show, she reportedly labeled transit workers as uneducated and overpaid persons who got their jobs by making poor career choices early in life. Jones also reportedly called Trinidad-born TWU local president Toussaint 'a dumb coconut who probably doesn't have a green card.'

Who the "dumb coconut" is here is obvious and that these comments are offensive goes without saying. And clearly should cause any self-respecting, fair-minded listener to change the station and leave Miss Jones to talk to herself.

But, unfortunately, the story doesn't end there.

Enter: New York City Council Member Yvette Clarke.
According to McCallister, Clarke, "who was angered by Jones comments," said, "It is my intention to bring this issue to my colleagues in the City Council and introduce a resolution calling for the permanent removal of the 'Miss Jones in the Morning' show and the economic boycott of Hot 97 and its advertisers."

I certainly can understand why Council Member Clarke is angered by these ridiculous comments, as am I, but a Council "resolution calling for the permanent removal of the 'Miss Jones in the Morning' show" is scary-as-hell. That's the way the right wing fascists operate. When they find something offensive, they call for the government to shut it down. We can't do that.

The whole meaning of freedom of speech is the protection of all speech that doesn't immediately endanger the lives and health of people. Government intervention into the behavior of cultural institutions must be fought against without hesitation. Trust me, when council members start talking about "shutting down" speech, most of the time it will be our speech.

Don't miss the fact that former-Mayor Guiliani's attempts to censor museum exhibits that offended him is not different from Council Member Clarke's attempt to shut down "Miss Jones in the Morning." Both instances of censorship are equally dangerous.

If Ms. Clarke, on the other hand, wants to call for people to shut off "Miss Jones in the Morning" I'll be on the picket line with her.