« Censorship! When will they learn? | Home | Liberals provide hope, not fear »

Boycott the Customs House Museum

By Bill Larson | November 17, 2006 |

Until Ned Couch, the executive director of the Customs House Museum resigns, I will not be attending any museum functions, advertising their events, donating any money, or encouraging anyone to patronize their establishment. I strongly encourage my readers to boycott them as well.

It’s the job of the museum to present the arts, not to censor them in the name of community sensibilities. They approved the display, and unless they are totally incompetent, they reviewed each piece before approving the exhibit. Once they gave their approval, they have no right to require suddenly controversial pieces to be removed.

Free speech is an all or nothing proposition. Either all people are equally entitled to free speech or they are not. It’s not something you can pick or choose. People whom you disagree with are just as entitled to protection of their right to free speech as you, or those you agree with, are.

The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that burning a flag is protected free speech. I am quite sure that printing words on the flag is, most likely deep frying one is as well. While I don’t personally agree with the artist’s actions, I will defend his right to make his statement, using a flag or not. You should as well.

About Bill Larson

Bill Larson is the Creator and Publisher of Clarksville Online, and works as a network administrator for Compu-Net Enterprises. He is politically and socially active in the community. Bill is a member of the Friends of Dunbar Cave, and an associate of the Clarksville Free Thinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties. You can reach him via telephone at 931-920-0043 or via the email address below.

Email: clarksville@clarksvilleonline.com

Sections: Issues
Topics:

2 Responses to “Boycott the Customs House Museum”

1. robgilm Says:
   December 18th, 2006 at 2:17 am

   Nobody said he couldn’t deep fry a flag, the person responsible for the museum just said he couldn’t display it there. Did you really plan to go to the Customs House to begin with, or are you just trying to be dramatic?

2. Bill Larson Says:
   December 18th, 2006 at 9:32 pm

   I have attended the museum multiple times, I have taken my niece and nephew more than once. I will not now. I was serious about my boycott. I hope others do so as well. It’s an individuals choice. Do you support what the director did or not. You and Donald are reacting to partial information from second hand or third hand sources. Here are the facts: The artist submitted a display for approval The museum approved it for display The show opened. The museum got a complaint about the flags from someone who saw the display. They ordered the artist to remove the flags They then closed the display. Now if they ordered him to remove the flags before they approved his exhibit for display, neither I or anyone else would or should have a complaint. But that is not what happened here. Once they approved it, ordering him to remove portions of a display due to complaints, is censorship, and a violation of their duty to the public. I am sure the museum receives city, state, and or federal funds the future of which are now in jeopardy.

Comments

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Feeds

• Full
• Comments