Free speech according to the US Constitution:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The Progressive left cannot find a way to end this provision, try as they might – but like all progressive efforts, they find ways around it. Since they can’t stop you from speaking with “speech codes” and “free speech zones”, they have adopted the practice of defining your speech in their terms. The Trump campaign seems particularly adept at bringing out the absurdity of this concept of “transferred context”:
– A bowl of Skittles – racism! Anti-immigrant bigotry!
– “Make America Great Again” – for white people (according to Bill Clinton)
– If Hillary wants to take your guns, let her start first by disarming her security detail – assassination rhetoric!
Even the #blacklivesmatter plays this game: black cop working for a black police chief shoots a black perp with a gun – why, it’s obviously white racism!
The minute I have to be responsible for what someone hears or understands when I speak rather than what I mean, free speech is over. Allowing people to transfer context of a particular statement or event to fit their chosen narrative is the beginning of the end.
Friends, this is the beginning of the end of the American Republic. Speech is merely the expression of ideas – restrictions on speech are restrictions on ideas. Control over speech is control over the mind.
Fahrenheit 451, my pretty babies!
If we allow this to continue, we will only have ourselves to blame. We have entered a very dangerous time when we have a national media that is a gnat’s hair away from becoming the official state-run propaganda machine, bans and limits on free speech are being spoken of openly and approvingly by academics, politicians and every other perpetually aggrieved party. There is intolerance being practiced in the name of tolerance. When we allow a group of people with political motivations to decide on the validity of speech, all speech becomes political and restrictions on “political” speech become restrictions on all speech.
When a black man can say on national TV that “I just know that all white people are fucking devils. All white cops are fucking devils, and white people” and that demonstrably false statement isn’t shouted down by rational people in the media, Houston, we have a problem.
It’s time for the adults in the room to stand up and call bullshit.
The Rio Norte Line 
I totally agree. Ideas should never be censored. If people don’t like an idea that someone has espoused, then just ignore it and it will go away … unless a lot of other people do like it, in which case those who don’t like it might need to adapt or stop trying to force their neighbors to obey them and parrot their ideas.
How do we come to a place where we accept that other people have a right to be different from us in their thinking and lifestyle, so long as they are not interfering with our thoughts and lifestyle?
The essence of the solution lies in deprogramming the Marxism that the Education system, the Media, Press and Politicians have pushed for the last 35+ years.
What you describe in your last sentence used to be understood by pretty much every one as the American way.
Absolutely Utah……it’s called Push-back !
Call this what it is exactly ………… Racism on the part of BLM community and those Blacks who don’t uncategorically condemn this. And abrogation of responsibility of the Press and elected reps who don’t speak out against this strongly and immediately.