EDITORIAL – Prince’s Nazi outfit a royal mistake

A massive wardrobe malfunction by the United Kingdom’s Prince Harry has prompted the European… A massive wardrobe malfunction by the United Kingdom’s Prince Harry has prompted the European Union’s top justice official to propose banning swastikas and other Nazi symbols.

Prince Harry wore a Nazi outfit, complete with swastika armband, to a costume party last week. The resulting furor prompted the EU to consider such a ban, according to the Associated Press. Germany already bans these symbols.

While banning these symbols is well intentioned, it is also counterproductive to the EU’s aim of eradicating racism, anti-Semitism and Nazism from its member countries. Nothing appeals to youth like a banned symbol, and forbidding it will only make it that much more attractive to people leaning toward such beliefs.

Furthermore, it is important to remember history, not ban its worse elements. Instead of sweeping World War II and the Holocaust under the rug, the EU should endeavor to educate, not whitewash. “Never forget” has become the Holocaust’s watchwords; the EU would do well to remember them.

There is, of course, the further irony of attempting to eradicate memories of totalitarianism by banning speech. Symbols are means of expression, even if that expression is one of hate. Allowing symbolic speech is better than attempting to teach tolerance by limiting expression.

And on the practical side, allowing neo-Nazis to wear swastikas will only make them easier to identify and keep track of. Also, how would this ban be implemented? Through house inspection? Confiscation? Fines?

The only way to completely wipe out Nazism is through education, the kind that the prince clearly didn’t receive. On Harry’s part, wearing such a costume was not an act of hate, but one of extreme insensitivity, a clear instance of a rich, Christian boy who doesn’t understand the symbol’s significance and the emotional impact of his actions.

His punishment has already come through the media backlash. The upset caused by seeing such a symbol has opened discussion of contemporary discrimination, in particular how to deal with anti-Semitism.

Our generation didn’t witness World War II. Sixty years after the fact, many of us can’t comprehend what occurred or why. If the EU wants people to understand the war and its consequences, it shouldn’t mistake banning a symbol for erasing hate.