What We Talk about When We Talk about Free Speech
Jenny Bossaller, John M. Budd · The Library Quarterly · 2014
American law is unique among Western nations in its protection of hate speech (defined as speech against groups of people). Limits to any legal speech are viewed as potential encroachments on First Amendment rights. The profession of librarianship has formally embraced and defended a strict interpretation of the First Amendment in The Freedom to Read Statement and in court. However, individual librarians and scholars of law are not unanimous in defending hate speech. This article offers a rhetorical analysis of the defense of hate speech in these fields in order to illustrate a paradox: speech that intimidates is designed to silence others’ voices. Good speech does not necessarily offer an antidote to bad speech when bad speech is loud and spoken often. The consequences of allowing all speech in public forums should be regularly evaluated so public spaces remain places where everyone is free to enter and be heard without fear.