Where the hate lies in soft hate speech: the argumentative potential in hostile public spheres
Dima Mohammed · Critical Discourse Studies · 2025
In this paper, I explore the hateful discrimination involved in public messages in which a Portuguese politician alleges wrongdoings by members of the Roma community. The messages, which brought the hate speech charge on the politician but didn't get him convicted, are analysed as cases of soft hate speech. While they do not necessarily explicitly state that somebody is to be hated, they crucially provide the underlying rationale in support of discriminatory hatred. To uncover this underlying rationale, I adopt an argumentative perspective. I discuss the premises communicated in the messages and reconstruct the overall argument that links them. In doing that I pay special attention to the inferences invited by the structure of the messages and the argumentative potential of the premises. The analysis reveals an implicit meaning that is not just discriminatory, but also inciteful to actions that could be violent against the Roma community. Consequently, it explains what makes soft hate speech perilous: while the discourse is not necessarily legally culpable, it is nevertheless discursively responsible for inciting hatred, discrimination, and violence against the already disprivileged minority group.