Should Free Speech include Hate Speech?

[Bluerthanblue]

60. a decent definition of what

would constitute "hate speech" imo would be:

Speech intended to degrade a person or group of people based on their race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, social class, appearance, mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability.

Your statement -Speech, in and of and by itself, is not capable of negating anyone out of existence. While that may be 'literally' true, the damage done by words used to cause others to adopt the view that people who they see as different from them are less than human, not entitled to live without being disparaged or belittled does influence the quality of life for the victims of their hatred.

there is an interesting article here:

http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss16/booknotes-Destruct.shtml

which talks about the effects of 'hate speech' on society.

Words are powerful.

thanks for the discussion.