We Must Stop Hate Speech - 1709 Words

During the turbulent tides of the 2016 election, the question of whether or not hate speech is protected under the First Amendment has been brought up multiple times. Hate speech is defined by the American Bar Association as â€Å"speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits.† One side argues that hateful comments should not and are not protected due to the oppression they bring. After all, why would a nation that promotes freedom and equality for all allow the harmful words of others to persist? Conversely, others argue that the First Amendment covers all forms of speech, hateful or not, and to not allow hate speech is both a violation of†¦show more content†¦In the R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul case of 1992, a 14-year old white boy burned a cross in the yard of the only African American family in St. Paul, Minnesota. Minnesotan law prosecuted him under the pretense th at it was illegal to place, on public or private property, a burning cross, swastika, or any other symbol likely to arouse â€Å"anger, alarm, or resentment in others on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, or gender.† However, the young man appealed, and the case was taken to the Supreme Court, which ruled the law unconstitutional in that it infringed on the First Amendment. While the law did not condone the boy’s actions as legal, they did condone the law to be defective due to it focusing on his motives rather than his actions. A similar case, Wisconsin v. Mitchell, was done the following year and dealt with Thomas Mitchell and several young African American boys beating a white boy. Mitchell allegedly instigated the fight, shouting, â€Å"There goes a white boy; go get him!† before both he and the other boys proceeded to chase and beat the boy in question. Wisconsin law dictated that the penalty for battery be increased if the assaulter chooses the vic tim â€Å"because of the race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation and national origin or ancestry of that person.† However, unlike in the R.A.V. case, the Supreme Court stated that this law did not infringe First Amendment rights because the act was directed towards a particular victim rather thanShow MoreRelatedPre Nazi Holocaust And The Civil War1181 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Downing asks several tough questions to the believers of more speech: â€Å"What was the ‘healing antibiotic’ [(referring to more speech)] after the 1838 Cherokee Trail of Tears†¦Why will dialogue occur? What kind of dialogue?† (Downing 177), and later, â€Å"..where is the ‘more speech’ during the centuries of slavery†¦Was the Civil War fought simply because Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth†¦and their relatively few supporters spoke† (Downing 183). He also gives the example of pre-Nazi Germany, describeRead MoreThe Broad Term Of Freedom1646 Words   |  7 Pagessociety. We have always defined freedom as an environment in which people resist evil and do what is right, and good without fear of any punishment or retaliation. It is justice balanced with compassion and it is a rule of law based on fundamental moral truths. It offers individuals equal opportunity to better and balance their lives morally, spiritually, intellectually, and economically. Freedom is not only a moral issue but also a legal one and on this essay I am going to focus on free speech. As TheRead MoreSpeech On Freedom Of Speech1484 Words   |  6 Pagesof Speech Professor Hunt Culver Stockton College Freedom of Speech Americans have many freedoms that people in other countries can only wish they had. Just imagine a life where you could possibly be killed for speaking your mind and stating your opinion, other countries are living lives like that. According to Katy Davis, The United States ratified the first amendment on December 15th 1791 (Davis, n.d). We as a country don’t know where the government draws the line between hate speechRead MoreSpeech Against Hate Speech1068 Words   |  5 Pagesthe right to freedom of speech. Unfortunately, this right is often abused by people who are intent on spreading the message of hate against others. Creating hate speech as a dialog that attacks an individual or a group based on a protected characteristic such as the sexual orientation, religion, disability, color, or ethnicity. Some countries consider hate speech to be a crime because it encourages discrimination and sometimes even violence. Pursuing this further hate speech has been a topic of discussionRead More Censorship and the Internet Essay1213 Words   |  5 Pagesamount of unrestricted information available on the internet many people believe that some of this information should be censored by the United States Government. Whos to say what should be accessible and what should not? Where does it start and stop? Does internet censorship make a nation a safer place to live? There are many countries that don’t allow the use of the internet at all and some countries only censor what they don’t want their citizens to know. Daniel Calingaert said â€Å"The internetRead MoreThe Debate On Freedom Of Speech1221 Words   |  5 PagesThe debate on freedom of speech becomes endless because there are a number of misconceptions going on. Speaking freely is just a valuable term to center our consideration on a specific type of human association but the expression is not intended to recommend that speech sho uld not be invaded. No community has yet existed where speech has not been constrained to some degree. The main thing to note in any sensible examination of the right to speak freely is that it must be constrained. Each communityRead MoreGay Rights1419 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican Gay Rights Movement†. Their leaders or people who advanced their purpose are Harvey Milk, Harry Hay, LGBT, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual groups. This purpose is to stop intolerance and, ultimately, gain the right of and benefits of marriage. The gay rights movement is embodied in â€Å"What We Want, What We Believe,† which shows that even though the group was not seen, or given rights, that in time with their unity they would gain equality. It is a manifesto that states what the entiretyRead MoreRacism in North America1353 Words   |  6 Pagesthis speech you will try to put an end to racism when you hear it and when you see it. You see racism is a type of discrimination, proba bly one of the worst. Racism is like a revolting disease being passed down from generation to generation by vicious racists. Unfortunately, most of us will face racism in our lives in one form or another. What kind of world do we live in where we are judged by the colour of our skin rather than the content of our character? We can’t let racism continue, we must stopRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King Speech768 Words   |  4 Pages Unit 3 Performance Task â€Å"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation†¦ But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free...the Negro is sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chain of discrimination,â€Å" (King 261). During the civil rights movement Martin Luther King, Jr. had a speech about how they were treated and does not have much right like others, even they were supposed to be free long ago. DuringRead MoreCan You Ever Been Labeled By Someone You Don t Know?1327 Words   |  6 Pagesable to let words fly past them. Although as kids we played around and sung â€Å"Sticks and stones may break my bones, words may never hurt me†, we now realize as adults, words have a huge impact on your life and feelings. It is a disgusting feeling to know you are being put down by words based off of your race, religion, sexual preference, or disability. The main way words affect us or cause harm are of hate crimes. â€Å"Hate speech is bias-motivated speech aimed at a person identified as a member of a historically