A history of the battles over regulation of hate speech in the United States.
The United States has no hate speech laws; hate speech is generally considered to be free speech under the First Amendment. In this crisp guided history, acclaimed legal historian Samantha Barbas chronicles the country's legal and cultural battles over the regulation of hate speech in the last hundred years. Charting the historical context for current debates, she ultimately argues that, however emotionally appealing they may seem, hate speech laws undermine civil rights and democracy.
The American policy on hate speech evolved from influences such as the civil rights movement, which contended that the most effective way to combat hate speech wasn't through proposed laws. Rather than imposing restrictions, the US has developed an array of mechanisms other than law, including counterspeech and public education, that have been relatively effective at dealing with hate speakers and hate groups. Though not perfect, our method of addressing hate is less dangerous than government censorship and less likely to be weaponized against the powerless.

- 304 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
Information
Table of contents
- Imprint
- Subvention
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1. The Birth of a Nation
- 2. Henry Ford’s Dearborn Independent
- 3. The Anti-Nazi Law
- 4. A “Systematic Avalanche of Falsehoods”
- 5. Hate Speech in the Marketplace of Ideas
- 6. Beauharnais v. Illinois
- 7. Hate Mail
- 8. Hate Speech and Free Speech Exceptionalism
- 9. The Nazi–Skokie Affair
- 10. After Skokie
- 11. Hate Speech in the Age of the Internet
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
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Yes, you can access Hate Speech by Samantha Barbas in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Law & Civil Rights in Law. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.