Somehow I don’t think the founding fathers of the concept of Free Speech had insults and slurs in mind when they put their highly intellectual minds together and came up with it. At the very minimum, racist slurs defy any pigeon hole, square peg in a round hole and logic of equating words that are meant to wound and defile with the historical beginnings of Free Speech in 1948 after the two World Wars.
I have a right to say this because I don’t like being a victim of racism. Being called a ‘F..ing Paki’ is not a fun way to pass a moment in a day or moments in a year.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the mass bulk of the mantle of racist behaviour has passed from those who hate ethnic minorities to those who, post Brexit, now hate white people who come from Eastern European countries. This twisted logic of racism has not, however, absolved me from its’ claws.
Logic doesn’t come into it anymore. There is a simple reason for this. Racism has no logic and no standing or status in society.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the mass bulk of the mantle of racist behaviour has passed from those who hate ethnic minorities to those who, post Brexit, now hate white people who come from Eastern European countries. This twisted logic of racism has not, however, absolved me from its’ claws.
Logic doesn’t come into it anymore. There is a simple reason for this. Racism has no logic and no standing or status in society.
Equivating it to ‘Free Speech’ is a claim by the far Right/Alt Right to legitimise their prejudices.
The analogy I draw is akin to dousing a badly baked Apple crumble pie with expensive Custard sauce from Waitrose hoping no one will notice the bad taste. Layering racist language with a claim to free speech isn't the same. It’s worse, in fact, because there is a human being at the receiving end of these slurs. While you can spit out a pie you can’t spit out an experience of racism which is debilitating to one's being.
