Offensive street speech--racist and sexist remarks that can make
its targets feel both psychologically and physically threatened--is
surprisingly common in our society. Many argue that this speech is
so detestable that it should be banned under law. But is this an
area covered by the First Amendment right to free speech? Or should
it be banned?
In this elegantly written book, Laura Beth Nielsen pursues the
answers by probing the legal consciousness of ordinary citizens.
Using a combination of field observations and in-depth,
semistructured interviews, she surveys one hundred men and women,
some of whom are routine targets of offensive speech, about how
such speech affects their lives. Drawing on these interviews as
well as an interdisciplinary body of scholarship, Nielsen argues
that racist and sexist speech creates, reproduces, and reinforces
existing systems of hierarchy in public places. The law works to
normalize and justify offensive public interactions, she concludes,
offering, in essence, a "license to harass."
Nielsen relates the results of her interviews to statistical
surveys that measure the impact of offensive speech on the public.
Rather than arguing whether law is the appropriate remedy for
offensive speech, she allows that the benefits to democracy, to
community, and to society of allowing such speech may very well
outweigh the burdens imposed. Nonetheless, these burdens, and the
stories of the people who bear them, should not remain invisible
and outside the debate.
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