White supremacist Hale to lecture at public library

Town Online, Aug. 21, 2002
http://www.townonline.com/38417854.htm

The leader of World Church of the Creator, an organization devoted to white supremacy and anti-Semitic views, is coming to speak at the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, and there isn’t much the town can do to stop him.

The organization’s leader, Rev. Matthew Hale, will speak at the library on Saturday, Sept. 14. The Illinois-based WCOTC expects to draw a legion of white supremacists from New England to the area, and the event is already causing an outcry from residents who are wondering why the library would allow such an event to occur in town.
[...]

But the First Amendment of the Constitution and library policy, which both protect freedom of speech, make this sort of lecture possible.

” I’ve come to understand that public libraries have to have policies that are content-neutral, ” said library director Sharon Gilley. ” We have an obligation to uphold the First Amendment, and that being of freedom of speech and peaceable assembly is something that extends to everyone.”
[...]

John Roberts, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, confirmed that the library can’t turn away the group.

” If the policy of the library is to open itself up for rentals to the public, then it can’t discriminate based on content, ” Roberts said.
[...]

Gilley said the room was booked back in June. At the time, she said she didn’t know the nature of the booking, but admits that even if she was aware of the program’s content, the group could not be denied access to the library.
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” What their message is, is not one of anyone affiliated at the library or one that the town of Wakefield supports, ” Gilley said. ” Most of the residents are people of goodwill, who don’t subscribe to their point of view either. “
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A press release from the WCOTC boasts about a similar meeting held in Pennsylvania that attracted 350 racists.
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Gilley said the WCOTC chose to speak here because one of their Massachusetts-based leaders, Rev. Tony Menear, is being incarcerated in Concord.

Roberts said the library and community are better off taking a neutral approach to the racist organization.

” The best thing to do is to just let them come and do it, ” he said. ” The library should clarify why it’s being done and that this is what the First Amendment is about. Sometimes we have to put up with stuff we don’t like.”

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