This week, I saw several Facebook and Twitter posts about a video of a British woman on a train in London who made it very clear she was really, truly British, unlike the black passengers on the train, she said.

The video showed this woman spewing words of hate toward the passengers on the bus she considered to be foreign because they were not of white, Anglo-Saxon descent.

As I watched the scene, my heart ached for the other passengers on the bus; for children on the bus; for the woman’s own young son, who was sitting on her lap the entire time. I can’t even imagine how the passengers she was speaking directly to, telling them to “go back where they came from,” must have felt at that moment.

I later learned this woman was arrested on suspicion of a racially-aggravated offense. Her racism was disgusting and intolerable. And, I certainly understand if the state was taking issue with her child being in an environment of verbal abuse, although that is an unrelated point to the arrest. But the arrest got me thinking about our civil liberties.

This woman was arrested for stating her opinion, an opinion of racism that unfortunately has not been eradicated from society — but it is her opinion nonetheless. She was not inciting violence, though she was using obscenities in her speech.

Some might consider the woman’s speech to be nonphysical violence. I’m not sure if we should put this in another category of verbal violence that isn’t the same as expressing an opinion, but that may be true. The arrest, though, was based on the suspicion that she was making racially discriminatory statements in public to people of another race.

Of course, the laws about public speech are very different in England than they are here. But in the U.S., this woman would not have been arrested.

There are plenty of people in our country, sadly, who tell people who appear to be foreign to “go back to where they came from.” Though I find that to be an unfortunate opinion and rather rude and discriminatory, these people have every right to express their views and are protected by law.

The Supreme Court has upheld a fairly rigid right to free speech; there are some restrictions that are applied to commercial speech or situations that may compromise the civil rights of another individual, but as was clear earlier this year in Snyder v. Phelps, even “outrageous” speech can be protected in public settings. I value that freedom of speech, even if some use it destructively.

Even when the power of speech is used in a negative way, the freedom to do so can bring good things. Several comments on the original YouTube video were almost as bad as the video itself. While it was disappointing that a discussion about the issue stirred up even more racist attitudes, it is important to note that people were posting the video all over social media websites because they condemned her behavior. They found it to be sad and infuriating that racism still permeates our communities, and they felt compelled to share their frustration.

There were also several people in the video who stood up to the woman and stood in solidarity with their fellow passengers. Passengers told her to stop and that her behavior was unacceptable. One young man sitting behind the woman suddenly stood up and threw down his bag, but the other passengers calmed him down and encouraged him not to react in a way he might regret later.

As a young woman hugged this man, showing her support for him as he faced racism square in the face, it reminded me to look at this situation with hope and not defeat. People use free speech to express disturbing views, but it just compels us to come together to fight racism and discrimination in a constructive and peaceful way. In this way, freedom of speech contributes even indirectly to a more just and equitable society.

— Cosby is a senior in English and political science from Overland Park. Follow her on Twitter @KellyCosby.