There is an entire category of laws called “hate crimes” which are to do with racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. In many European jurisdictions this even is expanded to include speech.
If I key your car, I get one sentence. If I key your car and write a racial slur targeting your ethnicity or race, I get a more serious one. That much is true even in the United States.
So it’s not a false dichotomy but a real distinction we make in our legal systems. One which I agree with in the context of hate crimes but I don’t agree with in the context of hate speech.
There is an entire category of laws called “hate crimes” which are to do with racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. In many European jurisdictions this even is expanded to include speech.
If I key your car, I get one sentence. If I key your car and write a racial slur targeting your ethnicity or race, I get a more serious one. That much is true even in the United States.
So it’s not a false dichotomy but a real distinction we make in our legal systems. One which I agree with in the context of hate crimes but I don’t agree with in the context of hate speech.