The subject is a deli in Cleveland which is adorned with a blatantly anti-semitic mural about which the author says “the fact that this animosity has been allowed to fester publicly is one that I, the grandson of a rabbi, applaud without reservation.”
The proprietor of the deli is the son of a Palistinian who emigrated to the U.S. in the twenties. His family moved back to the West Bank in the sixties, and he grew up there, but eventually he decided it was safer to live in the U.S.
It’s difficult to reconcile the hateful imagery on the walls with the amicable discourse that this guy has with the reporter.
At any rate, Ted Gup has produced a thoughtful and provocative bit of journalism. He seems like the sort of person I should very much like to know.
Larry, I so needed to read that! I admit to being bigoted about bigots. (I know – it’s self-referential.) This approach, from both Abe and Ted, gave me somthing new to think about.
Great article. I’ve been thinking about starting a GD thread on this very topic.
“Hate speech” is such a stupid and thoughtless one-size-fits-all censor. If someone’s aggrieved at a group of people, taking away that person’s right to express his anger will only breed more resentment.
I’m not American, but it seems self-evident to me that hate speech, like any other kind of speech, is most certainly free speech and as such would be protected by the First Amendment. I just don’t see how there’s any room for debate on that.
Is there any way to check out that link without filling out the poll? It pops up every single time I try to check out the Washington Post-- so I never fill it out.
For a few years I’ve maintained that you can’t call yourself tolerant until you’ve hugged a nazi.
I really dislike the term “homophobe.” You know how people used to treat homosexuality as a disease? Well, now not approving of homosexuality is a mental disorder!? Honestly, I don’t see what the anti-gay fuss is about, but that doesn’t mean that the fuss is a certifiable mental disease. And yes, that is what a phobia is, a mental disease.
Sorry about the poll… I told them I was 98-year-old woman with no income or interests years ago, so I forgot it was there.
From the article:
This actually makes a certain amount of sense. From what I’ve seen, the standard white-supremacist recruiting approach is focused on characterizing white people as oppressed by a government that is schlling for, or just plain run by, people with differing ethnicities, or homosexuals, or what-have-you. “You’re miserable? It’s not because you’re poor and under-educated, it’s because those others are keeping you down to hog all the pie for themselves. Why, if you even offend the others by complaining about it, you’re branded a criminal.”
On the other hand, human beings have consistently shown a tendency to believe any damned thing if they hear it.
Just for my own selfish convenience, I wish bigots felt more comfortable expressing themselves up-front. Twice I’ve been in relationships which progressed quite far and involved considerable emotional investment before the S.O. reached a comfort-level where she felt safe enough to say what she really thought. Great! I’m in love with someone who advocates genocide! Better to know that stuff up front and avoid the whole mess. They ought to feel secure enough in their f’d up beliefs to tattoo their own worthless skins or wear identifying jewellery, the better to be shunned by intelligent beings.
I am forced to re-think my position on verbal political correctness. I thought it was a leader-less movement rightfully purging society of negative sounds but may be it is better that people use the word nigger or kike or chink freely?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, as it was reinforced with this article, is that not all hate speech is ignorant rambling. “Abe” has a particular reason and history for his opinions, and I’ve grown to respect the points of view behind the expressions - no matter how superficially ignorant those expressions may seem.
Take for example, the suburbanite upper-middle class teenager who goes out and vandalizes a Jewish cemetery in Northern New Jersey for no reason - a completely senseless act which pisses me off. But then I take into account my Jewish neighbor, who flew in WWII against the Nazis, who harbors a distinct resentment against some Germans, and I can understand a difference.
My point? It’s not always ignorance. It’s not always a blind statement. Sometimes there’s an intelligent story behind the expression. And it’s because of that, that I quoth Voltaire (as many have done before): “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Tripler
Say what you will. It’s one of the few freedoms we really, truly have.
I don’t agree with the point right now. It has something to do with thoughts leading to actions leading to attempted arson. Give me a bit til I come up with something that doesn’t make me want to take off someone’s head.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. Did the ban help the nazis rally popular support? What would have happened if they tried to keep it in place after it became a populist movement?
At the risk of sounding nit-pickey (is there a technical term for that?), I think that the different political and social environments between the U.S. today and post-war Germany prevent the nazi ban from being an instructive analog. I think that the 2000 prez. election really showed the character and dedication to civil politics that has grown in this nation–I didn’t hear of a single riot, a single murder, or a single beating over the struggle for the white house.
Maybe in a country or a time where society balances on the precipice of mayhem a ban on hate speech would be appropriate–kind of like proscribing someone from shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theatre. This is not that time nor that place. Sure there are nut-jobs out there, but they should not be the standard for how we judge the value of speech.
Remember, the full quote is, “under the rule of just men, the pen is mightier than the sword.” I think we live in a society where the pen should be unleashed by those who hate, so that the pens of those who don’t may counter. Just saying that racism is bad doesn’t lend the principle versimilitude, it needs to be shown through argument and discourse. That discourse can never obtain so long as hate speech is banned.
