Understanding Words That Wound

by Delgado, Richard; Stefancic, Jean

• ISBN13: 9780813341408
• ISBN10: 081334140X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

Successor and companion volume toWords that wound, the first book to argue for recognition of hate speech as a serious social problem. The current volume greatly expands the coverage of hate speech, including chapters on children, the Internet, recent cases, campus hate speech codes, and international responses. Deals expressly with arguments against hate-speech regulation, as well as the case for it.Written by leading critical race theorist Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic, this volume succinctly explores a host of issues presented by hate speech, including legal theories for regulating it, the harms it causes, and policy arguments pro and con suppressing it. Chapters analyze hate speech on campus, the history of hate speech in America, the careers of particular words as "nigger," "spick, "wop," and "kike," hate speech against whites, and the special case of children. Particular attention is devoted to hate on the Internet, talk radio, and to the role of white supremacist groups in disseminating it. Designed to be accessible to the general public and students, this book features reading lists, exercises, and questions for discussion. This book is accompanies and expands on the prize-winning volumeWords that Wound: Critical Race Theory, Assaultive Speech, and the First Amendment, also published by Westview Press.

Author Biography

Richard Delgado is the Derrick A. Bell Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of When Equality Ends (Westview Press), The Rodrigo Chronicles, and The Coming Race War? And Other Apocalyptic Tales of America After Affirmative Action and Welfare. Delgado is the winner of eight national book awards and is a frequent television and newspaper commentator on race and civil rights.Jean Stefancic is research professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh Law School and Derrick A. Bell Scholar in Law. She is the author of No Mercy: How Conservative Think Tanks and Foundations Changed America's Social Agenda, and a frequent contributor to the literature on race and civil rights.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(10)
Part One: What Is Hate Speech?
Words That Wound: The Harms of Hate Speech	11	(10)
Quantitative Issues: How Frequent Is Racial Vilification?	21	(10)
Theories of Racism and Hate Speech	31	(16)
Part Two: Words, Speakers, and Targets
The Strange Careers of Four Special Words	47	(46)
Hate Speech and Children: The Special Case of Youth	93	(18)
College and University Students: The Case of Campus Hate Speech (and Conduct) Codes	111	(12)
Hate in Cyberspace	123	(18)
Part Three: Special Symbols, Speakers, and Shows
When Hate Goes Tangible: Logos, Mascots, Confederate Flags, and Monuments	141	(10)
Lawyer Discipline: When the System Sets Out to Purge Hate	151	(8)
Part Four: Hate in Broader Focus
Talk Shows: Hate on the Airwaves	159	(16)
Stretching to Make a Point: The Case of Hate Speech Against Whites	175	(20)
International and Comparative Perspectives	195	(8)
First Amendment Absolutism and Fallback Positions: Social Policy Objections to Hate Speech Remedies	203	(14)
The Future: First Amendment Legal Realism	217	(10)
Appendix: International Treaties and Documents	227	(2)
Glossary	229	(4)
Index	233