Recently infamous rapper, Lil B, was in the news for getting banned from Facebook for 30 days. The reason behind the ban was Lil B’s hateful comments towards the white people after the shooting in Las Vegas.
Some of his comments said: “White people are the only ones who really love they guns U can tell they are violent people! I don’t live in fear, I don’t need a gun. and White people so scared they the reason why guns are a problem if white people put down the gunze we all be safe but nope! They violent.”
After Facebook banned the rapper, he argued that these were not hate-laden comments but rather an attempt to start a discussion. After going through different opinions on the subject (both supporting Lil B and vice versa), it sparked a question in my head: Where do we draw the line between hate speech and freedom of speech? And should we really?
From a legal point of view, the Constitution puts it unequivocally: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” It does contain any exceptions to the principle of “freedom of speech.” This amendment strongly protects the speech regardless of it being hateful.
But in Germany, which has a troubled history of Nazism, dozens of words can get you fined. This, however, didn’t stop people from resorting to hate crimes. Germany is a perfect example of this. The number of neo-Nazis and far-right racists are growing every day in Germany.
That is the reason why I believe preserving America’s current position on free speech is crucial for our struggle against hate. We need people sympathizing with the KKK to come out and spew their hate, only to show to the world how corrupt their ideology is. We just can’t tell our kids how racists are bad — we need to give them reasons of why they’re bad. And what is the better way than to use their words against them?
For example, a Vice documentary on Charlottesville, where white supremacists marched and killed one, we saw how outrageous these people were and how dangerous they could be to society and the unity of America. Hopefully every time they come out to hate we will be there to laugh at their ignorance.