I'm guessing these guys were not saying 'cheddar cheese' when posing for this picture.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/24/1189449/-Four-North-Dakota-high-school-students-wear-KKK-costumes-to-hockey-game
Yeah it's not freedom of speech, it's a form of intimidation and the threat of violence. And I don't buy any excuse around it being just a prank, or something that was done on a lark of sorts (Kudos to the fella who got the picture up on Twitter - contrary to one of the commenters, I'd say the guy's question was pretty valid -

I guess the red river highschoolers are racist?

Exactly my question Shane. People who are uncomfortable with it and calling this guy Shane all sorts of foul names do so because they mask how embarrasing this kind of stupidity is to them, and because this guy chose to simply put it out there for everyone else to see.