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What is Hate Speech?

I call myself, sometimes with tongue firmly placed in cheek, a “combatant of censorship.” My country (the United States for those of you playing along at home) has a long and sordid history of censorship to rival any other: From Puritan New England to the banning of books as varied as Huckleberry Finn and Mein Kampf, the U.S. has long led the so-called “free world” in censorship. And now, this insidious little thing called “hate speech” threatens to plague us again.

For those of you who think I’m kidding – I’m not. Though I am no proponent of using such speech, and I recognize the right of a blogger, newspaper, school, or company to curtail it on its own grounds, I stand firm in my position that legislating against “hate speech” is a very slippery slope. Part of the problem, of course, is the definition itself:

Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability.

Rather inclusive, no? There are many points and opinions of my own that I could offer here, but instead, I’ll present three examples from popular culture and society. Do with them what you will, but by all means, discuss!

Just a warning before you click: I have taken some images of specific Facebook groups and online situations, and used a variety of words that are considered highly offensive to some people.  I’ve tried to present a wide variety as not to seem as though I’m picking on any one group…click at your own risk.

1. Reclamation of terms: Nigger. Cunt. Faggot. All examples of words that have been used to degrade, demean, and otherwise verbally injure members of particular minority groups.  Also all examples of works that are being reclaimed by those same groups.  Nigger, perhaps one of the most vilifying words of 20th century America, now peppers street vocabulary.  Dave Chappelle does comedy sketches on its use.  Though Black Americans’ views differ widely on the subject, the general agreement is that it’s not okay for use outside the community.  Hate speech or reclaimed word?  Cunt, while common slang in Britain, was one of the more offensive terms used against women in the United States (and still is to many), until it was reclaimed in the Vagina Monologues.  Hate speech?  Faggot, queer, and homo, to varying degrees, have all become part of the gay American lexicon.  Hate speech?

2. Hating the Inanimate: There is a questionable divide between what you can hate and what you can’t.  An all-too-obvious example from current events is the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which puts people on the defensive like nothing else.  A common issue within this conflict is the question of whether or not there’s a difference between hating Israel and hating Jews, or hating Zionism and being anti-Semitic.  Jewish advocacy group Jewish Internet Defense Force has, of late, been pushing Facebook to remove certain groups based on the “fact” that they promote hate.  Their site seems to be down, but the variety of groups they oppose include one entitled “Hate Israel,” and several that are simply in support of Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as others that ask members to “hate Jews” or “annihilate Israel.”  The question is: Are all of these groups created equal?  A few examples:

hate-israel


Is this hate speech, tasteless, or justified? Is this equal to the group below?


hate-jews

To some, the two above examples are equal.  To others, they’re extremely different.  One opposes a regime, a government; the other opposes a religion (or as some might argue, a race or a tribe of people).  What about the example below?  Is that hate speech?

hate-texas


Texas is a state, not a country comprising a group of specific people, however, the language used in the group’s description and logo could constitute hate speech.  What do you think?

3. The Freedom to Argue, Religiously Speaking: If a layman says “gays are evil,” is it any different than if a leader of the church says it?  On the contrary, is it permissible for a pastor, priest, or imam to argue against homosexuality based on religious (Biblical or Qur’anic) arguments?  We live in a time of relative equality, but there are still people of every faith who believe that women are best off in the kitchen, or raising children.  If a religious argument is made to that effect, does it demean women?  Or is it taken in the tradition of centuries of following religious norms?

If anything, it seems to me that upon reviewing these cases, it is even less clear what constitutes hate speech and what should be done about it.  Do we want a nanny state where an insult becomes a crime?  On the contrary, do we want minorities to suffer by the words of the majority?

Please share your thoughts.

28 replies on “What is Hate Speech?”

As an antiquarian book dealer, I collect racist/hate literature from the first half of the 20th century. It’s historically important. I’m glad it wasn’t all destroyed.

This question goes in to the hart of Democracy. What are the relationships between citizens? what are the relations between citizens and governments, and what are the relationships between different people. How should a democracy state, act against those how want to hamper democracy.

I think democracy, is first of all a culture. a culture of debating, rather then fighting. if some one is arguing for violence, between democratic parts then he is out of the game of democracy. If some one is saying that to find a solution one have to use force, then he is out.

We can tolerate a single person how advocate for violence, but if we see that he has an impact on people, then we should act to disable his hatred ideology.
I think that the best way to do this (and also eliminate government intervention) is by debate. But if this becoming dangerous to others (like in the Nazis case, or KAHANA, in Israel), they should be outlawed.

You make some good points. The debate over the Grey area between political discourse and hate speech is a touchy one, especially when people intermix traditional views of hate speech and say antisemitism with political disagreement. It is frankly and area that the JIDF and I do not agree on but then I have also never been to Israel, never lost anyone in the conflict nor will I ever serve in the IDF so my context is more of a traditional academic one.

Context is everything in the hate speech arena. Will Hal Turner be convicted of threatening federal judges? Maybe at the trial level- but what was the context of his posts? Ultimately, unless the Supreme Court decides to take a step backwards in what it considers “Fighting words” he will probably walk in the end.

Should we treat a Neo-Nazi who collects Nazi memorabilia as a way to express hatred towards Jews the same as the pure historical collector such memorabilia? Debates on this issue rage within Facebook, youtube and other forms of social media(Holocaust Denial and anti-Israel groups) on a weekly basis.

In the end, unless it is meant to incite imminent violence hate speech can not be criminalized in this country(USA). Keep your eyes out, I predict the Supreme Court will soon take this issue up again and we may see our 1st Amendment rights go backwards for the 1st time in American History.

Your conclusion is the same that I’m hoping for – I am only in favor of prosecuting speech which incites violence; and even then, it’s not the speech that should be blocked, but the person creating it.

The problem with groups like the JIDF is that they claim to be in favor of free speech but in reality are not.

By Post Author

Hi Jullian,
Really interesting post. I applaud your willingness to recognize the problem of limiting “hate speech.” Defining the term itself is fairly challenging. But even if we could agree on a definition, are we going to outlaw hate? If someone says, “Obama is a pig” group A gets mad and group B cheers. If someone says, “Bush is a pig” group B gets mad and group A cheers. Which one is hate speech? It might depend on whether or not we agree with one of the statements.

I was reading a post a few minutes ago that said “I can’t stand these rightwing creeps, but they sure know how to sell hate, fear, guns, God 24/7.” I think it is fairly obvious that the author had a point of view they wished to express about “rightwing.” First, they are “creeps.” That is hardly endearing. Second, the author, “can’t stand them.” The emotion expressed is very strong dislike. To dislike strongly is a virtual definition of hate in most dictionaries, is it not?

I agree with your slippery slope analogy. In most groups it is acceptable to hate or demean somebody. In order to enforce “hate speech” fairly, then NO group would be allowed to demean ANY group or individual. That is not likely to happen.

You do make a great point and I couldn’t agree more. It seems as though someone could be labeled for hate speech and not really say or mean anything hateful. I am quite offended that our Nation thinks it has the authority to regulate this…as it seems to me to be disciminatory to both sides.

All Negativity gets you is negativity but that is on the person perpetrate “hate” on others. You get what you give out comes right back at you. Other wise again first Amendment is and should not change because some feel it neccessary to impart their hate on others.

I was recently called a Racist in discussion forum through school by a student replying to my post. The subject is Hate Speech and questions relating to the assignment are as follows:
What is your opinion about the laws against hate speech? Do you think that these laws should be eliminated or that they should be strengthened and enforced?
This is my answer:
Hate speech reminds me of the era when African American people were slaves and not permitted to share the same public facilities, transportation such as the bus lines, and restaurants’ etc. I find it appalling to treat human beings in this manner and even more appalling that our country treated humans this way.

African Americans were courageous and strong back then with a strong religious faith in Christ that it would someday change. They were very religious indeed. In times of distress they sang hymns to overcome the hatred they endured. I feel the White American people didn’t have God in their heart and went to church because that was the norm back then. You can tell some White Americans were kind to their slaves and treated them with respect but had to discipline accordingly because it was the law in that era. If you were caught giving them slack you were called a nigger lover and subjected to being hanged yourself.

Our Constitution was arranged in order to have rights as an individual who lives in the United States. We are considered “equal” in the eyes of the Constitution. I think those who are prejudice and have hate in their heart need some medication called Jesus Christ. Perhaps they will be changed accordingly as Christ teaches you to love in the right way which is not to hate your fellow man or brother. I believe our Constitution is derived from the forefathers’ beliefs in Christ.

There is a fine line between verbal abuse and freedom of speech or voicing my opinion. Exceptions established by the courts to the First Amendment protections include defamation, causing panic, fighting words, incitement to crime, sedition, and obscenity (Van Camp, J. 1996-2005).

I don’t think it should be eliminated but should be strengthened and enforced. Americans need to know the Constitution like the back of their hand in order to strengthen their rights.

References:

Van Camp J. (1996-2005) Freedom of Exception at the National Endowment of Arts Retrieved January 17, 2012 from http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/freedom1.html

This is her response:

Hi Robin.

The N word is very offensive to me and most people in this country and that is one word that should be against the law to say ! And stereotyping people like you have just done is wrong in my opinion, as I am white and have always had God in my heart and not all white people back then just went to church because it was the norm to do ! My best friends are African American and I love them like family. You sound like a racist yourself !

Betty
I feel she didn’t read the entire post and jumped to conclusions in a hateful manner. Is this allowable?

I PERSONALLY THINK POLITICAL CORRECTNESS HAS GONE TO FAR ! I AM A GAY MAN AND TAKE NO OFFENSE TO BE CALLED A QUEER OR A FAGGOT ! AND HEAR BLACKS CALL EACH OTHER NIGGER ALL THE TIME AND TAKE NO OFFENSE ! I CALL THEM NIGGA NOT NIGGER! AND IF THEY CAN CALL EACH OTHER THAT THEN I CAN TOO ! I BELIEVE IN FREEDOM OF SPEACH WHOLE HEARTEDLY AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT SHOULD BE UP HELD AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED ! I THINK SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST TOO SENSITIVE AND TOO THIN SKINED IF YOU ASK ME ! THERE IS A THIN LINE BETWEEN HATE SPEECH AND FREEDOM OF SPEACH ! IF YOU THREATEN TO KILL SOMEONE THAT IS A CRIME IN ITSELF NOT HATE SPEACH OR FREEDOM OF SPEACH BUT A CRIME SO THERE IS A DIFFERENCE ! I JUST THINK PEOPLE NEED TO GET OVER THEMSELVES SOMETIMES AND MOVE ON ! BESIDES EVERYONE CAN NOT PLEASE EVERYONE EITHER AND THEY ARE ALL ENTITLED TO THEIR OWN OPINION !

Today was my son’s hearing at Mance Park Middle School. A kid was repeatedly calling him a faggot. My son told his teacher and nothing was said to the kid. A few seconds later he started to call him a faggot again. My son pushed his head in a desk. The kid got no consiquences and my son got suspended for 3 days and sentenced 45 dayS in an alternative school. This could of been prevented if the teacher would have done something instead of ignoring it! Any comments or suggestions?

yes. Rush Limbaugh pits brother against brother, calling Democrats “evil” and “the enemy” every day. He should stand trial .

“Queer” is not an insult, you so-called “faggot” and Mountain Everest climber!!!

Hate speech needs to be redefined. If it calls for hating targeted group ( race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, hair color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability). Hate speech needs to be defined as calling for violence or to actually hate said group and or that breeds toxic ideas against said groups.
I think there’s a difference between hate speech and out right insulting people. We need to have some fine line of understanding of what we can say without crossing into hate speech zone.
For example, when I want to insult weak minded and ignorant people by calling them cunts, that should not be dubbed hate speech even if I’m addressing a female. Cuz it’s not females I am attacking it’s the individual.
I mean i don’t want confusion , I am not saying just cuz im trying to insult a black person the individual that it’s only ok to drop the n bomb. If that makes sense, cuz it wouldn’t make sense for my case.
Let me try to clear this up, if I wanna call someone a ignorant cunt, cuz I hate ingorant people whether they male or female. And I really think intellect should be removed cuz dumb people are just as bad as ignorant and wilful ignorant people. To be clear, I dislike myself when I feel the urge to call someone the n-word regardless if they white or black. I know I’m not 100% PC but I want to become completely. However, when it comes to insult people’s cognitive thinking or lack of and or ignorance including wilful ignorance, we should be able to verbally insult them with asshats social media like Twitter to silence us because some lil bitch ass snowflake got offered.
One, if you don’t promote or threaten violence than it’s not hate speech. If you do then it’s hate speech. Which is to say hate speech lead to a person or community targeted. Being the end result of the hate speech.
2) using racial slurs, or promoting discriminationing ideas towards a group is hate speech.
3) freedom of speech is not a right to freely say hateful n inflammatory ideas against groups.
4) insult people’s ignorance or willful ignorance or lack of congintive understanding is not hate speech.

I think sex as one of the groups is really fucking weak. Unless of course you’re calling on hate for all women. Context matters!
Btw, being a male I like females, just not ones that willfully like or spew BS! Or are of criminal behavior.
Oh and for those saying they should be able to call other black people the n-word, it’s fucking racist. Nigger is not the same as nigga. However, I think PC has or is trying to go too far when you can’t say non racial slurred comments to offend someone who is ignorantly stubborn to admit their views are wrong. Is it wrong for me to want to call white ignorant stubborn assholes “albino niggers”, I’d answer that for you, yes it is. Why cuz it’s reverse racism against white ignorant assholes. The term nigger is a term I wish my damn brain would stop using. I like honest hard working black people. And generally we all have the right to viewed as equal. As for the next time someone calls me a fagget, while being hetrosexual, I’m gonna say real loud ” you’re just mad that I won’t let you suck my dick”!
A term I also use but not really to attack gay people, I have gay friends and I also joke with them and some of them don’t get offended or they might say something rude back, but it’s cuz I know them that I think both parties aren’t offended.
What I hate most is people becoming oversensitive and you can’t say anything without it being label hate speech. Like when that lesbisan advocate that tried to say “not using proper pronouns is violent ” or something to that extent about transgender issue. I really don’t like we have to try to normalize and use “proper pro nouns to fit transgender issue. I really don’t like the gender argument of gender not being binary. When in reality there is just male n female and some extreme fucked up cases where some are born with both male and female parts. Btw the discussion was on a YouTube video where this guy was debating “change my mind” a one on one debate to change his mind. It was quite civil. However, the advocate wasnt open to hear him out and was quite on the defensive.

Anyway, I really wish racism would cease to be a problem. We’re all equal and deserve respect. As for my inability to be completely PC, I hope someday I can become completely PC. Cuz racism does bother me.

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