By: Phil Reinhart

Phil Reinhart — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:34:54 +0000

I started off thinking I was against the KKK sign, then I was almost persuaded that freedom of speech is too important and the KKK should be granted the right to have the sign, but I then asked myself: Do governments have to support and fund speech in order for it to be free speech? I can go outside screaming white power and possibly get funded by the KKK, a private organization. However, there is no way the US government will support my doings. The Missouri Adopt-a-Highway is a government run program, so the government surely shouldn’t have to give support to the speech of the KKK. However, if the KKK finds a private billboard company that supports them, they should have every right to speak their mind on the board (as long as they aren’t inciting violence). The government shouldn’t be able to deny the private companies right to give free speech to the KKK.

Also, the Adopt-a-Highway signs are super enjoyable and I might have spent like half and hour looking through them, but if you look at the landmark donors for signs only in Missouri, they are boring and the least bit distracting. The state of Missouri may have more conservative views in what donors are allowed. The site below has a link to the landmark donors in Missouri; they are very bland.

I say the KKK shouldn’t have the right to have the highway sign. They are trying to get support from our government, a power that represents themselves with the lincoln memorial, the MLK memorial, and a Black freedom center. It they are trying to get their name out in the public’s eye, why don’t they start a private t-shirt company? If they are trying to clean up the highways, why don’t they buy some stakes and shovels and go to clean some highways?

http://www.modot.mo.gov/services/community/adoptahighway.htm

Comments on: The KKK Mile

By: Phil Reinhart