People protest hate speech on February 1, 2017, in Berkeley, California. Photo by: AP Photo/Ben Margot


Hate speech is words used to bring down a person.

These words are used against someone that is part of a certain group. That group may have a certain skin color, or are from a certain country. They may follow a certain religion. It may even be their age. Or maybe they just are different in some way.

Hate speech uses cruel words known as slurs.

There is usually a goal behind hate speech. A person may use it to try to get other people to also hate or attack that group.

Pictures And Symbols Count Too

Hate speech can also be pictures and symbols. A symbol is something that stands for something else. For example, the American flag is a symbol of the United States. Many people think the Nazi swastika symbol is hate speech.

Nazis caused the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a terrible time in history. The Nazis killed Jews because of their religion.

The Confederate flag is also considered hate speech by some. The Confederacy was formed by a group of Southern states. This happened in the 1860s. They broke away from the United States. They separated from the North to keep owning black people as slaves. This led to the Civil War.

Some people say hate speech causes harm for its targets. It could cause violence against them.

Hate speech is usually directed at people who have less power in the world. People say that hate speech makes its targets less equal.

Constitution Protects Hate Speech

Hate speech is a problem for free countries. The United States is a free country. The U.S. Constitution says that all people are equal. However, it also says that people have the "freedom of expression." In other words, they should be allowed to say whatever they want without getting punished.

And so, there is a question: Should hate speech be controlled by the government? If so, how?

In many free societies, all speech is usually allowed. Even hate speech is allowed.

Many people are disgusted by hate speech. However, they do not want the government to block people from saying what they feel.

Making A Decision Together

In some countries, no one is allowed to say bad things about the government. Most people in free countries do not like this. For them, it should be OK to speak out against the government.

Some of these people say we just need to point out that hate speech is wrong. We must discuss it openly. Everyone can decide together that it is wrong.

Other groups say the government should block hate speech. Even in free countries, some groups have less power, they say. These people could get hurt because of hate speech.

More Than Words

For them, hate speech is more than just words. It also continues the unfair treatment of some groups. It could cause more people to take in the messages. Then, they may want to attack certain groups, too.

The United States protects freedom of speech in the Constitution. This is called the First Amendment. The U.S. courts usually rule that hate speech cannot be blocked. It is also protected by the First Amendment. Hate speech is usually only illegal if it is used to cause immediate violence to someone.

France, Germany and Canada are also democracies. But they made laws to reduce hate speech. Many of those laws were written because of the Holocaust.

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