Hate speech is generally defined as being any sort of communication that disparages a person or group of people based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religion. The Free Speech Museum described it as being speech that is racist or anti-Semitic. There have been suggestions to censor hate speech on the web and though I see the value in keeping people, particularly children, from reading such ignorant words, I don’t think it would be right to censor it. It would go against this country’s first amendment right which entitles all of us to freedom of speech. No matter how ignorant or misguided a person’s words might be, they are still entitled to express them. I think the best way to deal with hate speech is to talk to and hopefully enlighten those who would consider it to be acceptable. Keeping people from saying such remarks isn’t a real solution to the problem. We need to find a way to change their way of thinking.
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