Hate Speech

A history of the battles over regulation of hate speech in the United States.

The United States has no hate speech laws; hate speech is generally considered to be free speech under the First Amendment. In this crisp guided history, acclaimed legal historian Samantha Barbas chronicles the country’s legal and cultural battles over the regulation of hate speech in the last hundred years. Charting the historical context for current debates, she ultimately argues that, however emotionally appealing they may seem, hate speech laws undermine civil rights and democracy.

The American policy on hate speech evolved from influences such as the civil rights movement, which contended that the most effective way to combat hate speech wasn’t through proposed laws. Rather than imposing restrictions, the US has developed an array of mechanisms other than law, including counterspeech and public education, that have been relatively effective at dealing with hate speakers and hate groups. Though not perfect, our method of addressing hate is less dangerous than government censorship and less likely to be weaponized against the powerless.

Samantha Barbas is Professor of Law and Aliber Family Chair at the University of Iowa College of Law and the author of seven previous books on mass media and free speech history, including Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan.

Contents

Introduction

1. The Birth of a Nation

2. Henry Ford’s Dearborn Independent

3. The Anti-Nazi Law

4. A “Systematic Avalanche of Falsehoods”

5. Hate Speech in the Marketplace of Ideas

6. Beauharnais v. Illinois

7. Hate Mail

8. Hate Speech and Free Speech Exceptionalism

9. The Nazi–Skokie Affair

10. After Skokie

11. Hate Speech in the Age of the Internet

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index