Contents
The Cold War
The most infamous case of the suppression of free speech during war time did not even occur during a real war; of course, I am referring to McCarthyism, the nearly absolute suppression of any scintilla of Communist sympathies during the early part of the Cold War. Although Senator Joseph McCarthy was censured and eventually discredited, McCarthyism effectively ended any genuine debate and discussion about communism and even socialism in American politics and culture.
Who can forget Joe McCarthy and the Congressional hearings? “Are you or have you ever been a member of the communist party?” How many Americans were dragged before Congress to answer that question? How many people were pressured to give the names of friends or family as being communists to stop their own harassment? How many people were “blacklisted” in their professions because of whispers of their communist leanings? Where was the First Amendment then? Where was freedom of speech? Where was the citizens right to say, think or believe what they wanted? The “Cold War” with the Soviet Union was the excuse used then to intimidate people and make citizens think twice about what they said and who they said it to.
It was not until the Vietnam War when real dissent was freely expressed during an American war. Hundreds of college students blocked the runways at a Massachusetts Air force base. Thousands of college students engaged in similar acts of civil disobedience and general public protests. However even in the 1960s and 1970s, people who spoke out against or protested our government’s war in Vietnam were spied on. The FBI had a far-reaching campaign to “expose, disrupt and otherwise neutralize” dissident political activities. We even had to see college students shot dead at Kent State in Ohio, for protesting the war.