Monday, December 30, 2019

Hate speech and hate crimes

I for one have never liked the terms "hate speech" and "hate crime" (protected characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability). Due to our First Amendment, hate speech laws don't fair well, but colleges are big on "speech codes" and requiring SJW special retraining camps for incoming students and faculty. The more race relations improve, the narrower academe defines the crime so it can add to its administration.

Unless a white man is a Jew or gay or transitioning to female, who is ever charged with a hate crime for attacking him? For race, it only seems to be certain races. If there are two different African immigrant groups in a Columbus high school, who charges them with hate crimes when they attack each other? Would a Columbus juvenile court judge know that one group was slaves of the other 300 years ago? I received a notice of a crime from OSU a few days ago and it made a point of not mentioning the offender's race. Something the whole culture seems obsessed with, yet can't be used to identify a criminal!

What do these laws/codes add to bad language and violent crime except a racial component to discuss on the evening news?  If black rappers can say the words, why can't a white radio host? If a black man robs or terrorizes a black family, why is that not a hate crime, if it is called a hate crime when a white or Hispanic criminal does it? Almost all crime victims (except Asians) are within same groups. Based on the 2018 Bureau of Justice survey, the offender was of the same race or ethnicity as the victim in 70% of violent incidents involving black victims, 62% of those involving white victims, 45% of those involving Hispanic victims, and 24% of those involving Asian victims. Lesbians against Lesbians. Gays against gays. No one commits a crime out of love (although some celebrity abortion advocates claim to).

Hate crime legislation took hold with the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, then a special law for violence against women but not men, then sex and peculiar identities were added. NY is considering adding more on top of what we already have just for anti-Semitism. Now all sorts of quasi legal threats are made if a religion disallows marriage of same sex because it violates the Bible and all of history, or if an employer doesn't recognize the feelings of men who believe they are women.

And yet Democrats, the Left and their print, internet and social media are allowed to call Conservatives and their president all manner of nasty names on the air ways, on TV and public debate--from racist to terrorist to Nazi. They can reinvent as "hate speech" the OK sign or even the words, Make America great. I do see hate, and it's from the Left manipulating our laws intended to protect people. But they shouldn't be the only ones protected by the First Amendment.

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