Is Hate Speech in the Media Directly Affecting Our Culture?

I believe that just because freedom of speech is protected under the First Amendment, does not justify if one’s cultural, religious, and personal beliefs are mocked and judged through the media. Being familiar with hate speech, I thought that after reading issue twelve it would be easy to agree with Henry Giroux, who argued that hate speech in the media is directly affecting our culture, but I found it difficult to understand him. In contrast, I found it easier to read Georgie Weatherby and Brian Scoggins research and examples focusing on the idea of how hate speech in the media is not affecting our culture. I believe that Giroux focused his research on the idea of culture cruelty and how entertainment media and information are creating violent behavior in our culture. The example that Giroux used was the beating of homeless people and how the National Coalition for the Homeless claimed that people on Youtube are posting videos with titles like “bum fight” and showing actual footage of individuals beating and mocking the homeless. I thought this was an excellent example of why hate speech (hate videos) in the media are affecting our culture in a negative way because people are judging and assuming that this is how Americans are to the homeless. The reason I found it easier to read Weatherby and Scoggins research was because they explained specifically what hate speech is in our society by using examples like hate sites of four extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the National Alliance, the Neo-Nazi, and the Aryan Nations. One of the main points that I thought was interesting that Weatherby and Scoggins brought up was the idea that these groups are trying more to inform the public about their beliefs versus recruiting them into their group. Another main point that they brought up was how the media, such as the Internet allows the group to reach a wide range of people that may believe in what they do, and hopefully recruit them. Weatherby and Scoggins also mention that hate sites are not showing exactly what they want on their site because they want to appear “friendly” so individuals will join their group. In conclusion, all though Weatherby and Scoggins brought up excellent points, I personally believe that hate speech in the media is affecting our culture, having individuals think its ok to beat a homeless person and discriminate against Jewish or Arabs. People are already facing the reality that hate speech is leading to Stereotypes and that is becoming part of our culture.