This story raises points worth reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/politics/21whites.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Tell me what you think about hate speech. Should we allow people to spout racist views? The Secret Service is investigating at least one threat against Obama yelled at a Palin campaign rally. Should their intervention go beyond threats? I, for one, am surprised that race has not been a more vitriolic issue in this campaign (aside, of course, from last week's food stamp debacle). Do you agree? Why?
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Hate and the election
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3 comments:
I don't believe that there is any room for hate speech in any arena, regardless of whether it's about race, sex, age etc. The hate speech that does exist sprouts from ignorance, fear, or even as Mr. White said... mental illness and sexual preoccupation.
I am not so surprised at the minimal amount of racism we have seen in this election. I would like to think that there are more people who are watching Obama break down stereotypes and wanting to see him do well than there are people who want to see him fail because of his race. And I think that's part of the reason white supremacists are losing power, so to speak. People are not afraid to stand up to them anymore. It's not the 1950s and 60s anymore.
Granted, we still have a long way to go. It's not impossible to change the minds of those who have believed a certain way their entire lives. But it's damn difficult. Unfortunately, my grandparents are some of the people who "just can't trust Obama," but they trust the white senior citizen. They won't outright say that race has any part of it, but their grandkids know.
Further, a reasonable effort needs to be made to heighten the awareness of our youth so that they are not susceptible to these groups. It's sort of the Archie Bunker phenomena on All in the Family... There are people who see his actions as ignorance and those who see it as justified. How do we get to the root of that and squelch the flame so it never again becomes a fire?
I have to agree. A lot of hate speech does come from ignorance. I don't see why we waste time with hate speech in the first place. We have so many other issues to deal with as a society. We shouldn't be wasting time harming each other, but trying to fix the major issues in society.
As much as I am glad to see a shift "in the mores of society" as the NYT says, there is also a potential for diverse views to be diluted from the political arena. When people start placing hate speech so outside the realm of consideration it goes underground and leaves a white-bread society vulnerable. I think its better to let the speech out and get trampled than to shoot it down before listening to opposing views- no matter how hateful.
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