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On Racist Speech: Brown Vs. The Board Of Education

766 Words4 Pages

Abdullah K. Refaey
Professor Sharon L. Rossum
English 1302
4 February 2023
How much freedom should there be in speech? On December 15, 1791, Americans gained access to the First Amendment, which guarantees them freedom of expression. While this was clearly a breakthrough for the majority, it did not put a stop to the racism that black people faced in society. Charles R. Lawrence's narrative essay "On Racist Speech" discusses the necessity of restriction on racist speech, particularly on university campuses. He cites a number of arguments, but Brown v. The Board of Education, the First Amendment, and the distinction between free speech and hate speech stand out as the most important. Being an American legal expert, Charles R. Lawrence is familiar …show more content…

The Board of Education case utilizes logos to engage the audience. He underlines that Brown v. Board's true significance was to advance "the principle of equal citizenship" (Charles 4), and he explicates how segregation in schools simply served to make black people feel excluded and unworthy to attend schools where white children were present. Even after school segregation was eliminated, African American pupils continued to be affected by the problem of hate speech. According to Charles, hate speech can nevertheless cause needless pain even though it may not result in physical injury. When one is made to feel inferior and worthless by racist comments on college campuses, it is really difficult to concentrate and study. Lawrence also mentions a fighting language exemption in his piece. He claims that it is difficult for the government to enact legislation that is specific enough to outlaw racist speech without also outlawing acceptable speech. Lawrence claims that although racist speech hurts minority populations, it also draws blood from our democratic …show more content…

He aims to expound to the reader why hate speech shouldn't be included in the freedom of speech, at least on university premises, while reassuring the audience that he understands that the freedom of expression is highly essential and difficult to restrict in terms of hate speech. According to his statements, students who are subjected to racist instruction could even consider filing a lawsuit "on behalf of Blacks whose right to an equal education is denied by a university's failure to ensure a non-discriminatory educational climate" (Charles 18). To help the audience grasp the gravity of the issue, Charles chooses to explain how hate speech might escalate within legal

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