Hate Speech Pros And Cons

Hate speech has been a long, controversial issue in the United States of America. The reason is because some people believe that it is part of the first amendment right which states that every citizen of this country has the freedom of speech ("No, There's No ‘hate Speech’ Exception to the First Amendment.") However, on the other hand, some people also believe that it is not part of that protected right due to the fact that it could lead to unexpected consequences such as violence or even death. According to the American Bar Association website, hate speech is defined as “[a] speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits.” Many people argue

Collin or the Skokie Affair, the NSPA v. Skokie is one of the well-known examples of hate speech. It was a United States Supreme Court case deciding on whether to allow the Nationalist Socialist Party of America to march through Skokie, Illinois, a village of approximately 70,000 persons in which one of every six residents is a Holocaust survivor, wearing Nazi uniforms or displaying swastikas. The leader of the party, Frank Collin, informed Skokie officials “that the purpose of the demonstration was to protest the Skokie Park District's ordinance requiring a bond of $350,000 to be posted prior to the issuance of a park permit” ("National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie.") He also mentioned, “the demonstrators would not make derogatory public statements and would cooperate with reasonable police instructions.” However, residents of the village protested saying that there is no guarantee this will not lead to violence, and so the march should be stopped. Surprisingly, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the swastikas are part of free speech, meaning they have the right to be protected under the First Amendment. The Court further constituted that the swastikas are not considered “fighting words,” which are “face-to-face personal insults addressed to a specific [people and] are likely to start an immediate fight” ("No, There's No ‘hate Speech’ Exception to the First Amendment.") and ultimately concluded that the Party had the right to march through the village. Eventually, the NSPA did not continue with their march through the village after some Holocaust survivors set up a museum on Main Street of Skokie in remembrance of those who lost their lives in Nazi concentration camps. While it is true that the Court classified the swastikas as symbols of free speech and were allowed to be used in the march, marching in a predominantly Jewish village with a hostile symbol, knowing the history between Nazis and Jews, makes people