Free Speech Museum

After visiting the Free Speech Museum’s Hate speech page, I learned that hate speech is primarily racist and anti-Semitic speech in the U.S, and those who engage in it would be such. It seems that regulating hate speech is somewhat hard to do, unless it falls under libel, obscenity, or fighting words. The problem with trying hate speech is that it often ties into the First Amendment right of freedom of speech.  Countries like Canada, Great Britain, and Germany have banned hate speech, but the debate continues on whether or not this infringes on the freedom of speech. Professor Catherine MacKinnon notes that the “principles of free speech and equality are at war in this country.” Unfortunately, I think this will always be a topic of heated debate. While I do not think hate speech is right or respectful in any way, I must also admit that it is hard to definitely define a line at what exactly constitutes freedom of speech. Can we truly say something is free, but include restrictions and exclusions? I would like to think that we are at a time in history where we can respect all people and disengage in hurtful words, but as we all know that is not always the case. The problem with censoring anything, is that there will always be opposition and vice versa. It is truly a difficult issue. I think the most important thing in reducing hate speech is fostering understanding and forming our own opinions afterwards. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but we should make sure that it is a valid opinion based on our own experiences, understanding, and learning, not those passed on from one group to another.