Free Speech and Hate Speech in the United States
Free Speech and Hate Speech in the United States explores the concept and treatment of hate speech in light of escalating social tensions in the global twenty-first century, proposing a shift in emphasis from the negative protection of individual rights toward a more positive support of social equality.
Drawing on Axel Honneths theory of recognition, the author develops a two-tiered framework for free speech analysis that will promote a strategy for combating hate speech. To illustrate how this framework might impact speech rights in the United States, she looks specifically at hate speech in the context of symbolic speech, disparaging speech, Internet speech, and speech on college campuses.
Entering into an ongoing debate about the role of speech in society, this book will be of key importance to First Amendment scholars, and to scholars and students of communication studies, media studies, media law, political science, feminist studies, American studies, and history.
Chris Demaske is an Associate Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Tacoma.
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Free Speech and Hate Speech in the United States
The Limits of Toleration
Chris Demaske
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First published 2021
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Writing any book is not a solitary process. The completion of this book was no different. I am grateful for the massive amounts of support I received throughout the past several years. I would like to thank the University of Washington Tacoma for the year-long sabbatical that allowed me the time and intellectual space to bring this book to life. I also would like to thank the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences for funding that afforded me the opportunity to present my work at various stages of its development. Through conference presentations at the International Association for Media and Communication Research, Law and Society, and the Union for Democratic Communication, I received valuable critiques that helped to shape my ideas. Some of the text appeared previously in Communication Law and Policy, 24:3 (2019), and the editing process for that article further refined my thoughts. Also, I would like to thank the editors at Routledge. They were amazing throughout the entire process of getting this book to print.
The individuals, both professional and personal, who played a role in the creation of this book are numerous. While I cant thank everyone, I would like to recognize a few people who were generous with their time, encouragement, and assistance. SIAS Dean Anne Bartlett offered constant confidence in me, reassuring me frequently of the importance of my work.
Many colleagues provided feedback at various stages of the process. Turan Kayaoglu offered crucial commentary on the book proposal. Several colleagues read material early in the process, including Bill Kunz, Randy Nichols, Sarah Hampson, Michael Forman, Cynthia Howson, and Kearston Wesner (Quinnipiac University). Caitlin Carlson at Seattle University supplied helpful suggestions regarding the first seven chapters. Special thanks to Sara Bannerman at McMaster University who went above and beyond by reviewing the entire manuscript. Her thorough read and insightful recommendations were invaluable.
Support when writing a book takes many forms. Throughout the past two years, colleagues Riki Thompson, Ed Chamberlain, Randy Nichols, Emma Rose, Andrea Modarres, and Heather White (University of Puget Sound) came to my house weekly for research and writing sessions. The camaraderie and accountability propelled me forward when I was discouraged, tired, or overwhelmed with other obligations. Khristine Wolfe, Susan Wolfe, Colleen Carmean, Sally Cook Stewart, and Raelin Musuraca allowed me to drone on and on about the book for several years. Special thanks to my dear friend Brenda Fetsko who always seemed to have just the right thing to say at exactly the moment I needed to hear it. And finally, my greatest appreciation of all is to my wife Adrienne Ione and our sweet dog Sasha for allowing me to turn our house into a research and writing center, showing unconditional support, and keeping me sane and grounded.
On August 3, 2019, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius walked into a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, with a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire. In the deadliest shooting that year in the United States and the seventh deadliest in the country since 1949, he killed 22 people and injured two dozen others. Crusius, who would allegedly tell police that he went to the Walmart to kill Mexicans, published shortly before the attack a white-nationalist manifesto on 8chan, an anonymous online forum linked to violent extremist. The writer for the Times was looking for my perspective on what I thought this might be saying about the evolution of Internet speech.
To be clear, this wasnt the beginning of the story about concerns over the relationship between Internet hate speech and
As a long-time proponent of hate speech restriction, I welcome these discussions however fleeting and far between they might be but I also worry that they have yet to really interrogate the intensity or complexity of the problem of hate crime acts.
