When First Lieutenant Beryl Newman of Baraboo, Wisconsin, encountered three German machinegun nests on a European battlefield in 1944, he stood up and, despite intense fire directed towards him, singlehandedly knocked them out, killing and capturing numerous Nazi soldiers in the process. For his conspicuous bravery, he received our nation’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor. His heroism helped defeat Fascism and Nazism and preserve that which we often take for granted: our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.
Decades later, when nearly 60 Baraboo high school students posed for a class photo brazenly giving the stiff-armed Nazi salute, they were protected by Lt. Newman’s bravery. Citing the First Amendment, the Baraboo School Board announced the young perpetrators could not be punished. Besides, it reasoned, who knows what was “in their hearts?” At least, that’s what the board would have us believe. We actually know what was in their hearts.
As it turns out, one student, a young gay man named Jordan Blue, stood out in the crowd. He did not grin with cocky glee and raise his arm. Instead, he stood in palpable discomfort with an obvious degree of physical distance separating him from the others. Then, as growing world indignation condemned the display, his fellow students, parents and city officials fell over themselves to deny the repugnant act as anything other than mere waving (although none recommended the photo be turned into a “Welcome to Baraboo” billboard), or “confusion” or to excuse it as “just following orders” intimidation. Others offered that ever hollow “this is not who we are” remorse.
Blue, however, was honest. A victim of anti-gay bullying since middle school, he knew what evil lurked in the hearts of his classmates and resisted. In subsequent media interviews, he candidly exposed Baraboo’s homophobia and racism. As if to corroborate, a news outlet reported recent increased complaints of racist incidents filed by Baraboo School District students.
But thank the gods for the First Amendment. Once again, it proved to be the perfect catch-all shrugging defense for hate speech. But when does protected hate speech become a hate crime? If we can reduce the charge of hate to accommodate protected speech—in the same manner we conveniently call white supremacist terrorists lone wolves with mental problems—we avoid responsibility. But the violent ascendancy of American Nazis is not anecdotal, it’s incremental. Whether in Charlottesville, Va., Pittsburgh, Beaver Dam or Baraboo, the imminent danger cannot be dismissed with platitudes.
To be fair, the City of Baraboo eventually responded, scheduling three town hall meetings on Inclusivity, Leadership, Restorative Justice and other introspective themes. With its recreational attractions like Devil’s Lake and Circus World that draw hundreds of thousands of tourists who pump millions of dollars into the local economy, a reputation as Wisconsin’s Nazi circus city could prove costly. But one would hope the city’s soul searching is genuine rather than strategic to buttress the bottom line.
Meanwhile, the second meeting, “Baraboo Talks,” took place last week. Although its announcement on social media garnered all of 13 likes, the sole comment read, “I think reconditioning the roads in our city should be a top priority. Just sayin.’”
