Hate Speech is not Freedom Speech Between August 11th and August 12th of 2017, the world watched the disturbance news of what was going on in Charlottesville, Virginia. The horrific videos and images left the world in shock. Groups of white supremacy, nationalists, hitler youths marched in unison screaming, “White lives matter! Blood and Soils! You will not replace us! Jews will not replace us!” More groups enraged their voices across Virginia to scream hate speech to other races. They threatened the “Black Lives Matter” organizations by telling a few of them to “go back to Africa.” It was a tragic moment where it took a life. Heather Heyer’s life was taken away from her because of such hatred. All the hate they had towards another …show more content…
However, a person’s hate or bad belief should not be punished due to freedom of speech. There was two different hate crime cases that show their outcomes. In the R.A.V vs. City of St. Paul case of 1992, a white 14-years-old boy burned a cross in front of a black family’s lawn. The burning cross symbolize the Ku Klux Klan, an organization that spread hatred across the country. The burning cross showed the black family that they are not welcomed at their neighborhood. The family filed a lawsuit against them and it went to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court believed that the Minnesota law was unconstitutional, because they violated the boy’s First Amendment freedom of speech. The court ruled that the burning of the cross was not an illegal act, therefore; if the fire damaged the family’s property, it would have been a charged against the boy. The burning cross was a massage and not an action. The court attempted to punished white boy for his message. The second case, Wisconsin vs Mitchell of 1993, Mitchell and several black youths went to the movies to see, “Mississippi Burning,” where blacks were being beaten. After the movies, Mitchell saw a white youth and yelled, “There goes a white boy, let’s beat him up.” They went and attacked him. In a criminal law, penalties was based on the seriousness of the act. Beating someone up can cause a criminal penalty if it was a senior citizen, a child, a police officer, or a teacher. Under
On October 7, 1989, Todd Mitchell, a young black man, instigated an attack against a young white boy. He was subsequently convicted of aggravated battery in the Circuit Court for Kenosha County. Wisconsin v. Mitchell 508 U.S. 47 (Wis. 1993). Mitchell was convicted of aggravated battery in the Circuit Court for Kenosha County. ld. According to Wisconsin statute, Mitchell's sentence was increased, because the court found that he had selected his victim based on race. ld. This is an example of the state of Wisconsin enhancing punishment based upon
Throughout history, the United States Constitution has been put to the test over the issue of free speech. The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Even though free speech is one of the core American values proudly embedded in each citizen, some poopAmericans find themselves torn between whether or not to limit the freedom of speech on behalf of hate speech. Most law-abiding citizens disagree with hate speech, but must realize even speech that promotes hate, racism, and even crime
In the R.A.V v. City of St. Paul case, a white teenager was arrested for burning a cross in the lawn of the only black family in the neighborhood. According to the state, this was in violation of a 1989 city ordinance making it a crime to place on public or public property a burning cross, swastika, or other symbol likely to arouse "anger, alarm, or resentment in others on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, and gender." In this case, a higher court decided that R.A.V’s first amendments were violated because the state was punishing expression. The ordinance didn’t simply make burning a cross illegal, but instead made the expression associated with this act illegal, which the court considered a violation of freedom of speech under the First Amendment.
In the article Travis Andersen, quotes Chief Mark Chase in stating that “the law prohibits him from discussing specific of the case because the parties involved are juveniles” (2017). Having juveniles involved show the intent that Social Construction of Reality has on society. Meaning, in this case race, are constructed form our relationship with others. The juveniles mostly got their views of a person of a different race from their parents or caretakers and thought this was okay, if this is found to be a hate
Hate speech is a term of art in legal and political theory that is used to refer to verbal conduct – and other symbolic, communicative action –which willfully attacks a person or group based on attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. Hate speech thus includes things like identity-prejudicial abuse and harassment, certain uses of slurs and epithets, some extremist political and religious speech. For example, statements to the effect that all Muslims are terrorists, or that gay people are second -class human beings, and certain displays of hate symbols like swastikas or burning crosses are part of it. Those such activities are classified as hate speech if, and insofar as, they convey the idea that belonging to a particular social group warrants someone’s being held in or treated with contempt. However, Freedom of speech is the most important and basic right that a human in every country deserves. Freedom of speech and hate speech are two opposite things. Therefore, the government needs to draw a line between hate speech and freedom of speech to protect a citizen. Hate speech should be banned and extreme speech regulated because it is one of the reasons for many negative consequences in human lives
As hate crimes have risen in number during the past five years; many state governments have attempted to prevent such crimes by passing laws called bias laws. These laws make a crime that is motivated by hatred based on the victim’s race, religion, ethnic background, or sexual orientation a more serious crime than such an act would ordinarily be. Many people believe that these laws violate the criminal’s freedom of speech. Many hate group members say that freedom of speech is the right to say or write or publish one’s thoughts, or to express one’s self, they also say that this right is guaranteed to all Americans. But people and organizations who are against these hate groups ask themselves if the first amendment include and protect all form of expression, even those that ugly or hurtful like the burning crosses. The Supreme Court Justices have decided that some kinds of speech are not protected by the Constitution,
As many are aware, protesters gathered recently in Charlottesville, Virginia, for a “Unite the Right” protest. The protest quickly escalated from a peaceful rally to a violent outcry.
The author of the article discusses the hatred that revolves around the concept of equality in America. The author of the news article uses his knowledge of past events, such as slavery, and current issues. The audience of the article is those who don’t understand why the protests and riots in Charlottesville is an issue to many White Nationalist. The articles compare in the sense that they both discuss hatred that has been revolving on the issue, but they differ on what they speak of, as this article speaking of the president and his issues and the other speaks of the people. In conclusion, after many years of fighting against the hatred in society, there is still a lot to be done.
During 2013 the police force attempted to fight through the hatred of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ group. While not every person in this movement hated police and the ‘oppressive white man’, just as not all whites hated blacks during Reconstruction, many of them sought after their right to ‘peacefully’ protest against police forces around the US by physically assaulting police of all colors and acting out against the safety laws, put in place for everyone’s protection, by walking around with solid black BB guns and pointing them at the men and women who are trying to uphold the law and safety of all citizens. This event lead to many deaths on both the polices and black persons’ sides and an uproar of fights within families and friendships over ‘who’s side is right.’ In the end, this movement fell to the back burner of national news as the talk of president Trump’s immigration policies and ‘wall’ came to focus and has been the ‘race talk’ to recent days.
On August 12, 2017, a “Unite the Right” rally was planned to protest the removal of a Statue of Robert E. Lee. This “Unite the Right” rally was the largest white supremacist rally in recent U.S history and caused a local state of emergency to be declared in Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle. ( “Charlottesville Attack: What”, 2017) This state of emergency caused local officials to be able to call the rally a “unlawful assembly ”. Many accounts state that many of the alt-right protestors came geared up with batons, shields, guns and face masks (Yan, 2017). The peak of the protest hit when a speeding car rammed into a group of anti-racist protesters injuring 19 and killing one. ( “Charlottesville Attack: What”, 2017) The driver
America’s history is filled with constant arguing, debating, and bickering. Because America is so diverse and full of people with differing opinions, it is important that everyone is given a voice. The Bill of Rights is opened with the 1st amendment, which consists of the freedom of speech, religion, petition, press, and assembly. These are the cornerstones of American society, and the freedom to assemble has guided America to where it is today. This promise was a direct response to many events in colonial America, has been defended in court as shown is the case of the Village of Skokie vs. the National Socialist Party, and was pushed to its limit at the White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville, yet the persistence of this right proves how controversy succumbs to the freedom of expression.
“Black Lives Matter” —an intended progression in society without a hierarchy, merely marching forward by spur of the people. Started by three sisters who continue to keep the organization a chapter-based, left wing social justice operation, it can best be described as “Not a moment, but a movement” by those that follow it. The case that began this outcry involved a man —George Zimmerman— whom, according to Lizette Alvarez and Cara Buckley (2013), “was found not guilty [of] second-degree murder [and] was also acquitted of manslaughter, a lesser charge.” (para. 1). Since its initial start in 2013, the movement follows and protests against police brutality and civil injustice towards individuals of the Black minority; however, this is a prime example of hate breeding hate as the movement, has opened a new floodgate full of antipathy aimed towards the White-community and Law Enforcement Officials. In short, the initial idea of “Black Lives Matter” —which is to bring civil justice to the Black-community— is a good concept, but the execution by its adherents are, ironically, bigoted; the movement needs to either evolve its state of thought or disperse before it further segregates America.
Originating in 2012, the political movement known under the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has exploded in size and renown. This movement, which was initially inspired after a police officer was acquitted of all charges after fatally shooting an African American individual, seeks to diminish police brutality against African American individuals and systemic racism particularly in the United States. Sweeping the nation, Black Lives Matter has become an international movement and its influence has only increased with time. On the movement’s official website, the following was written regarding the history of the hashtag-inspired entourage, “#BlackLivesMatter was created in 2012 after Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime, and dead 17-year old Trayvon was posthumously placed on trial for his own murder. Rooted in the experiences of Black people in this country who actively resist our dehumanization, #BlackLivesMatter is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society. Black Lives Matter is a unique contribution that goes beyond extrajudicial killings of Black people by police and vigilantes.” (http://blacklivesmatter.com/about/). The #BlackLivesMatter movement asserts that racism is still prevalent in modern society and exists not only in passive forms. Instead, racism apparently can be both overt and implicit.
The Black Lives Matter movement has swept across America. It 's branched out with chapters in over 31 cities and held rallies and boycotts across the United States(Sidner). The Black Lives Matter movement started with the outrage of the death of a young man. It continues to take over headlines and raise awareness on police brutality and inequality. However, the movement has met resistance from the All Lives Matter group. This group thinks that Black Lives Matter is a movement to express hatred towards other races. However, statistics, the views of fellow citizens, and the overall purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement, can prove that the movement wasn 't meant to express hate on other races and that we need to support the movement instead of going against it.
The media has changed the mindset of many individuals in society. If a peaceful protest is happening, then the citizens are portrayed to be angry and rioters in the media. In today’s society, people gain their knowledge from either reading off social media networking sites and newspaper outlets online. The miscommunication and biased perspectives are formed because of sources that may have an enticing headline such as saying, “Black Lives Matter is the newest hate group.” For someone who might not understand this organization would believe the negative stigma behind it. This organization stands against violence and systemic racism toward African-Americans involving the issues of police brutality, profiling, and injustices. Black Lives Matter holds peaceful protests and meetings to find solutions to help end racial inequality for African-Americans. The headline should state that “Black Lives Matter stands up for unity,” which is respectable toward the organization. However, the media tries not to promote positivity because they want to appeal more individuals with newsworthy articles. The Nationalist Association of Black Journalists Award Winning Artist, Akiba Solomon is a freelance writer who focuses on writing about race and gender. One of her most indulgence writings is titled Thugs. Students. Rioters. Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage. Solomon is a lecturer that instructs and teaches about women and social justice issues. She discusses the intolerant