The Harm in Hate Speech

This is the first book I've ever read about hate speech. It took me two months to read it, and I considered abandoning the effort several times throughout. Long-winded sentences made it difficult to follow his points without re-reading and re-reading...and oof, that vocabulary! But I found the main argument of the book-that we should consider how hate speech compromises the dignity and social status of minority persons-compelling enough to wade through it. And that's why I'm giving this book four stars...because I sense it is an important counterargument in the free speech/hate speech debate.

But ultimately what I'd rather read is a more relatable account of the harms of hate speech...real stories, about modern people. This book exists mostly in the academic realm, in that it feels like it is directed towards other legal scholars, and it stays philosophical and theoretical more often than it roots itself real life events. Well, it is an academic book, I guess. Is it valid to expect it to be more approachable for the average person? I'm not sure.

Regardless, it did make me think about the topic of hate speech regulation more deeply than I ever have before. And I'm interested to read more on the topic. But I don't think I would go out of my way to recommend this book to my friends, mostly because I find the writing style off putting.