Hate Speech, Media Activism and the First Amendment

Putting a spotlight on dehumanizing language

In just over a month last winter, two Latino men were beaten to death
in New York state while their attackers shouted racial slurs and
epithets (Philadelphia Inquirer,
1/25/09). Such hate crimes, motivated by anti-immigrant prejudice and
other bigotries, have spurred a media justice campaign to reveal the
potential human costs of hate speech.

When the FBI reported that hate crimes against Hispanics had increased by an astonishing 40 percent between 2003 and 2007 (FBI: Hate Crime Statistics,
2003 and 2007), UCLA professor Chon Noriega began to ask "whether the
media plays a role in the persistence of hate speech and hate crimes."
In a pilot study that attempts to quantify hate speech in commercial
radio, Noriega tracked language on the Lou Dobbs Show, Savage Nation and the John & Ken Show (Latino Policy and Issues Brief, 2/09).
On these programs he found "systematic and extensive use of false
facts, flawed argumentation, divisive language, and dehumanizing
metaphors that are directed toward specific vulnerable groups"--which
results, Noriega argued, in marginalized populations being
"characterized as a direct threat to the listeners' way of life."

While deeply unsettling, Noriega's findings should come as little
surprise. Last August, San Francisco-based shock jock Michael Savage
unleashed this xenophobic tirade (Savage Nation, 8/4/08):

We need to get our troops out of Iraq and put
them on the streets of America to protect us from the scourge of
illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our
police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America....The
Statue of Liberty is crying, she's been raped and disheveled--raped and
disheveled by illegal aliens.

Savage is hardly alone in advocating violence against immigrants in
recent years. Montana radio host John Stokes said of non-English
speakers (John Stokes Show,
9/1/07): "Romans 15:19 says that if they break into your country, chop
off their leg. We have to forcibly get rid of them." (Actually, the
verse cited says nothing of the kind.) Rush Limbaugh (Rush Limbaugh Show, 3/27/06) cast all Mexicans as a "renegade, potentially criminal element." MSNBC's Tucker Carlson agreed on-air with radio host Mark Williams (Tucker,
10/16/06) that illegal immigrants are mainly "drug runners, human
traffickers" and "people who engage in slavery and prostitution."
Meanwhile, in 2007 alone, Lou Dobbs connected crime to illegal
immigrants on 94 episodes of his television show (Media Matters,
5/21/08). (For further examples, see FCC Petition for Inquiry: In the Matter of Hate Speech in the Media, 1/28/09.)

This kind of racist rhetoric is endemic to the mainstream press and
requires urgent attention, says National Hispanic Media Coalition
president Alex Nogales. In response, Nogales and his colleagues filed a
petition with the Federal Communica-tions Commission (FCC), asking the
regulatory agency to investigate the scope and consequences of hate
speech. (FAIR has signed on to this petition.) His organization
believes that the issue must be identified and understood so that it
can be addressed. "We want a spotlight put on this problem, on the
people that are doing it...and the companies that are allowing it to go
on."

This has been a controversial move in some media circles. Opponents say
that by its nature, an FCC inquiry leads to regulation and inevitably
to a chilling of First Amendment rights. Moreover, argues University of
Syracuse information studies professor Milton Mueller, "it seems to
assume that there is some unambiguous, clearly defined thing called
'hate speech' and that we all recognize it when we see it. I don't
think that is the case.... Is it just expression that one group considers
offensive or insulting? If so, we cannot regulate that without stifling
all manner of expression."

Nogales counters that hate speech is incendiary, comparing it to a
person yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Scapegoating Latinos for
the country's social and economic problems in a time of crisis is
deeply irresponsible on the part of commercial media and merits
investigation, he says.

We need to be able to discuss immigration and
all of us arrive at a consensus about what we're going to do. But
that's a far cry from just blaming a specific community for the ills of
this nation and, in many ways, creating an environment where hate
crimes are being committed against a community.

NHMC hopes that with heightened public awareness and criticism, media
corporations will choose to distance themselves from the personalities
espousing racist views. While the group also supports bringing a
greater balance of perspectives onto airwaves and television screens,
it does not want to reintroduce the Fairness Doctrine, a
regulation--supported by FAIR--that required broadcasters to allow a
limited amount of space for dissenting opinions on pressing public
issues (Extra!, 1-2/05).
Nogales said it led to "dull programming." The group does not have a
specific suggestion for what kind of regulation, if any, could take its
place.

Another tool activists are using to combat the negative impacts of hate
speech is media literacy--learning to decode how news is framed. "[The
news] works to reinforce this idea that its 'us' and 'them,'" says
Andrea Quijada, executive director of the New Mexico Literacy Project.
Those on the "us" side of that divide, she adds, get the message that
they have no responsibility for finding solutions because vulnerable
groups bring these problems on themselves, while those on the "other"
side get the message they have no power to bring about solutions.

In her community, the news media have fallen under heavy criticism for
their reporting on the bodies found in Albuquerque of 12 women, mostly
women of color, characterized as drug-addicted prostitutes (KRQE.com, 3/2/09; AP,
4/3/09). The way the story has been told leads viewers to think,
"That's what happens when you're a drug addict or a prostitute," she
says. Coverage has been so dehumanizing that Quijada and the members of
a local women of color group, Young Women United, have begun media
monitoring, writing op-eds and meeting with elected officials.

The corporate media's continued sanctioning of programs that regularly
broadcast hate speech is, at the very least, fueling racial animosity
in an already volatile time. In Quijada's words, "There's no
opportunity in the framework that [the news media are] using to
actually challenge the system.... Instead, they're turning it into a Law and Order Special Victims Unit episode every time we're watching the news."

Join Us: News for people demanding a better world


Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place.

We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference.

Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today!

© 2023 Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)