Howard Zinn on Free Speech in America

In trying to find a nice link re: Eugene Debs to complement Niel's piece re: Peltier, I found this essay by Howard Zinn -- author of People's History of the United States -- which explores the history of the first amendment in practice (it's from his book Declarations of Independence: Cross-examining American Ideology). That history is not very noble or encouraging. What emerges is a robust commitment to free speech within fairly strictly prescribed boundaries. You can say more or less anything you want, as long as it's not already been marginalized or illegalized.

Zinn's forte here is, of course, in the amassing of historical evidence. And he presents a fairly consistent picture of both the prescribed limits within which speech is free, but also the degree to which those with wealth and privilege are empowered to a lot more 'free' speech than the rest of us.

Highly recommended.