| I used to agree with your basic sentiment. I'm still a strong believer in free speech, including speech that causes discomfort to those who hear it. However, we live in a world that focuses violence on specific individuals, depending on their race, class, gender, religion, and a number of other factors. Our everyday actions are part of that system. Sometimes we help focus that violence, usually without realizing it. This is true of victims of violence as well as those who are not targeted. What is our responsibility? Ignore the situation? I'll tell you this: Feelings do get hurt, but the problem is not hurt feelings. The problem is the poverty & oppression baked into our system. A system that supports some people (definitely me) while making life incredibly hard for others. Is removing hate speech going to stop these problems? Absolutely not. Would I have any problem removing hate speech from the discussion community I run? Absolutely not. Would the good people at Ycombinator have any issue removing hate speech from Hacker News? Absolutely not. Does that hurt your feelings? |