Theories of Racism and Hate Speech
Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic · 2019
Critical race theory considers racism ubiquitous in American life and law, where dominant norms of color blindness and neutrality mask an ugly undercurrent of insistent inequality and unequal treatment. An emerging conservative position opposes controls on hate speech for reasons that are more or less the opposite of the ones the American Civil Liberties Union advances. The conservative position deplores hate speech, considering it crass and uncivilized. A further approach to racism and hate speech is the view of some critical race theorists that hate speech is not a harm to be confronted, but a tacitly acknowledged good. One problem with the view that low-level racism and hate speech are social goods is that this view is almost as demoralizing as the hate speech it seeks to explain. Hate crimes are different from hate speech. They are, often, more serious, injuring the victim’s security, well-being, and sense of safety.