The Importance Of Hate Speech

In order to uphold the integrity of our democracy, constitution and higher education standards, there must be an effort to preserve free speech on college campuses. However, in equal measure as illustrated in the First Amendment, students should also be protected from hate speech and provided an equal chance of receiving a safe education. Perhaps it is beneficial to also consider however, that a ‘safe’ education should not be misinterpreted as an entirely un-offensive one. In order to assist in the political discussion and recommended courses of action regarding free speech on college campus, political philosophers’ John Stuart Mill and John Rawls texts’ will be referred to and analyzed in this essay.

Lawrence sheds light upon the very turbulent issue of the First Amendment right to the Freedom of speech in contrast to the inequality caused by its misuse through racially bias speech. The author states that the University officials should endorse some sort policy that will protect the rights of those who are victimized by this “racial nuisance,” while at the same time not censoring our constitutional right of free speech, “I am troubled by the way the debates has been framed in response to the recent surge of racist incidents on college and university campuses and in response universities attempts to regulate harassing speech” (Lawrence，65). Continually, Lawrence defines the set of ideals that the First Amendment was based on, particularly; equality. He goes on to show the audience that this very balance is

There are ten Amendments in the Constitution, they are called the Bill of Rights. Each one of the Amendments protects a different right that people liveing the United States have. The Constitution was created in 1791. It took many drafts, but after 116 days on September 17, 1787 the members of Congress finally signed the Constitution (Constitutional FAQ Answer #87, usconstitution.net). James Madison wrote the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (U.S Founding Fathers, constitution facts.com). Each Amendment, of the Bill of Rights, is important for a different reason. 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” (1st Amendment, cornell.edu). The first Amendment is very important because it protects the U.S. citizen's freedom of religion, freedom of press, and freedom of speech.

The first amendment is the by far one of the most important amendments in the bill of rights, it grants citizens freedom of speech, press, assembly, and freedom of religion. Without these essential freedoms we would not be able to speak freely, worship freely, and we would not be able to critique our government or those in positions of power, etc. The first amendment states:

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is part of our countries Bill of Rights. The first amendment is perhaps the most important part of the U.S. Constitution because the amendment guarantees citizens freedom of religion, speech, writing and publishing, peaceful assembly, and the freedom to raise grievances with the Government. In addition, amendment requires that there be a separation maintained between church and state.

The Bill of Rights contains 10 amendments that were designed to protect the people and prevent an over powerful government. There are 3 amendments that are absolutely needed in order for the government to protect the people. That being said the 3 amendments that the people absolutely need are the 1st, 10th, and 2nd amendments. We need the 1st amendment because without freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and petition, there is no personal liberty, and without it, we wouldn’t be allowed to disagree with the government. The 10th amendment prohibits the government from becoming too large and taking over the states, and that’s important because without that, the government could easily take over the United States, and not be punished.

“Over the years, courts have ruled that college officials may set up reasonable rules to regulate the ‘time, place and manner” that the free speech can occur, as long as the rules are “content neutral,’ meaning they apply equally to all sides of issues” (Fisher, 2008). Speech codes and free speech zones on campus do exist for many reasons: many of the causes or topics that students or others looking to interact with students take up are controversial and can frequently take on less of an academic or social justice overtone and more of a hateful one. Hate speech is the greatest threat to freedom of speech on college campuses, and the limitations colleges and universities put on student’s verbal freedoms are largely in place as efforts to avoid it. Religion, in particular, is a hot topic on campuses and it has an unfortunate tendency to become more aggressive and argumentative than universities would like. However, under the First Amendment, individuals do have a right to speech that the listener disagrees with and to speech that is offensive and hateful. It’s always easier to defend someone’s right to say something with which you agree. But in a free society, you also have a duty to defend speech to which you may strongly object.

The first ten make up what is still today known as the Bill of Rights. They are also the first ten amendments to the Constitution. (Encyclopedia) The Bill of Rights puts limits on government power. So what the Founders looked at as the natural right of a person to speak and worship freely was now protected by the First Amendment’s prevention of Congress from making laws about religion or cutting freedom of speech.

The First Amendment is an amendment that protects the right of speech, petition, assembly, religion, and press. 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 people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances.” (heritage.org)

The first amendment of the Bill of Rights to the constitution guarantees four freedoms: freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly. The Bill of Rights was passed on December 15, 1791. Since then, the freedoms have been debated, discussed, and fought and died for. Many have immigrated to America to receive those freedoms. The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing because they believed in power of ideas and debate, not censorship. The first amendment to the constitution is important because it prohibits congress from establishing an official religion in the U.S., gives Americans the freedom to say what is on their minds, and gives the right to petition and assemble peacefully.

The First Amendment states that, “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

The first amendment of the Bill of Rights states that every American citizen has the freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the freedom of expression. It is also referred to as the Establishment Clause. It also states that an American has

The First Amendment was established on December 15, 1791. It was one of the ten amendments that constitutes the bill of rights. These amendments were made to the constitution to protect the people from the government having too much control over the people’s basic freedoms. The First Amendment simply states that congress shall make no laws that impede the people of the United States from freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom to peaceably assemble and freedom of petitioning for grievances.

Just a couple of months ago white supremacists rallied in Charlottesville to protest the tearing down of the statue of Robert E Lee. The racism and hate they spread through their march is unquestionably disgusting and serves no purpose in our society today. This event has led to social media sites such as Twitter to crack down even harder in a plight they started over a year ago to silence hateful speech. While there are some occasional dissenters, the general population agrees with the opinion that this speech is awful in every sense. With that being said, censoring their right to free speech is a bit too rash. We can all agree that free speech is one of the most important rights we have, and with President Trump throwing around the term “fake news” at major news organizations, it is more important than ever to protect that freedom. The article “The case for restricting hate speech” by Laura Beth Nielsen of the Los Angeles Times gives an argument for why hate speech should be censored. While she provides valid points, with the absence of factual statistics, none of them are strong enough to support her thesis that hate speech should be banned. I believe that in almost every instance, hate speech should remain protected just as much as our right to free speech.

Speech that attacks a person or group of people on the basis of race, gender, or sexual orientation is regarded as hateful. It has the potential to incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected group of people. In Millian Principles, Freedom of Expression, and Hate Speech, Mill makes the claim that essentially all speech, including hate speech, should be allowed. This claim holds its validity as long as no harm is done to an individual. Here, I will show that low value speech fails to engage deliberative views that underlie central first amendment fundamental liberties. Subsequently, I will support these claims by comparing the aspects of hate speech to low value speech. Lastly, I advocate for the prohibition against the use of hate speech in a university setting.