African Americans and the First Amendment

African Americans and the First Amendment PDF Author: Timothy C. Shiell
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438475837
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
The first detailed examination of African Americans and First Amendment rights, from the colonial era to the present. African Americans and the First Amendment is the first book to explore in detail the relationship between African Americans and our “first freedoms,” especially freedom of speech. Timothy C. Shiell utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate that a strong commitment to civil liberty and to racial equality are mutually supportive, as they share an opposition to orthodoxy and a commitment to greater inclusion and participation. This crucial connection is evidenced throughout US history, from the days of colonial and antebellum slavery to Jim Crow: in the landmark US Supreme Court decision in 1937 freeing the black communist Angelo Herndon; in the struggles and victories of the civil rights movement, from the late 1930s to the late ’60s; and in the historical and modern debates over hate speech restrictions. Liberty and equality can conflict in individual cases, Shiell argues, but there is no fundamental conflict between them. Robust First Amendment values protect and encourage demands for racial equality while weak First Amendment values, in contrast, lead to censorship and a chilling of demands for racial equality. Timothy C. Shiell is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Stout. His books include Campus Hate Speech on Trial: Second Edition, Revised and Legal Philosophy: Selected Readings.

African Americans and the First Amendment

African Americans and the First Amendment PDF Author: Timothy C. Shiell
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438475837
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Get Book

Book Description
The first detailed examination of African Americans and First Amendment rights, from the colonial era to the present. African Americans and the First Amendment is the first book to explore in detail the relationship between African Americans and our “first freedoms,” especially freedom of speech. Timothy C. Shiell utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate that a strong commitment to civil liberty and to racial equality are mutually supportive, as they share an opposition to orthodoxy and a commitment to greater inclusion and participation. This crucial connection is evidenced throughout US history, from the days of colonial and antebellum slavery to Jim Crow: in the landmark US Supreme Court decision in 1937 freeing the black communist Angelo Herndon; in the struggles and victories of the civil rights movement, from the late 1930s to the late ’60s; and in the historical and modern debates over hate speech restrictions. Liberty and equality can conflict in individual cases, Shiell argues, but there is no fundamental conflict between them. Robust First Amendment values protect and encourage demands for racial equality while weak First Amendment values, in contrast, lead to censorship and a chilling of demands for racial equality. Timothy C. Shiell is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Stout. His books include Campus Hate Speech on Trial: Second Edition, Revised and Legal Philosophy: Selected Readings.

The Negro and the First Amendment

The Negro and the First Amendment PDF Author: Harry Kalven
Publisher: Columbus : Ohio State U. P
ISBN:
Category : African Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
Based on lectures at the Ohio State Law Forum in April, 1964, showing the impact of the Negro Civil Rights Movement on the U.S. Constitution First Amendment.

Freedom for the Thought That We Hate

Freedom for the Thought That We Hate PDF Author: Anthony Lewis
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458758389
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
More than any other people on earth, we Americans are free to say and write what we think. The press can air the secrets of government, the corporate boardroom, or the bedroom with little fear of punishment or penalty. This extraordinary freedom results not from America’s culture of tolerance, but from fourteen words in the constitution: the free expression clauses of the First Amendment.InFreedom for the Thought That We Hate, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Anthony Lewis describes how our free-speech rights were created in five distinct areas—political speech, artistic expression, libel, commercial speech, and unusual forms of expression such as T-shirts and campaign spending. It is a story of hard choices, heroic judges, and the fascinating and eccentric defendants who forced the legal system to come face to face with one of America’s great founding ideas.

The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America

The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America PDF Author: Ellis Cose
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062999737
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
Named one of Newsweek’s "25 Must-Read Fall Fiction and Nonfiction Books to Escape the Chaos of 2020" The critically acclaimed journalist and bestselling author of The Rage of a Privileged Class explores one of the most essential rights in America—free speech—and reveals how it is crumbling under the combined weight of polarization, technology, money and systematized lying in this concise yet powerful and timely book. Free speech has long been one of American's most revered freedoms. Yet now, more than ever, free speech is reshaping America’s social and political landscape even as it is coming under attack. Bestselling author and critically acclaimed journalist Ellis Cose wades into the debate to reveal how this Constitutional right has been coopted by the wealthy and politically corrupt. It is no coincidence that historically huge disparities in income have occurred at times when moneyed interests increasingly control political dialogue. Over the past four years, Donald Trump’s accusations of “fake news,” the free use of negative language against minority groups, “cancel culture,” and blatant xenophobia have caused Americans to question how far First Amendment protections can—and should—go. Cose offers an eye-opening wholly original examination of the state of free speech in America today, litigating ideas that touch on every American’s life. Social media meant to bring us closer, has become a widespread disseminator of false information keeping people of differing opinions and political parties at odds. The nation—and world—watches in shock as white nationalism rises, race and gender-based violence spreads, and voter suppression widens. The problem, Cose makes clear, is that ordinary individuals have virtually no voice at all. He looks at the danger of hyper-partisanship and how the discriminatory structures that determine representation in the Senate and the electoral college threaten the very concept of democracy. He argues that the safeguards built into the Constitution to protect free speech and democracy have instead become instruments of suppression by an unfairly empowered political minority. But we can take our rights back, he reminds us. Analyzing the experiences of other countries, weaving landmark court cases together with a critical look at contemporary applications, and invoking the lessons of history, including the Great Migration, Cose sheds much-needed light on this cornerstone of American culture and offers a clarion call for activism and change.

First Freedoms

First Freedoms PDF Author: Charles C. Haynes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Presents nearly forty documents that help trace the history of the First Amendment, with essays placing each document in their historical context and a facsimile of the document in its original form.

Fights for Rights

Fights for Rights PDF Author: Ronald W. Eades
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 9780813109121
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
As Americans, we often take our many freedoms for granted. It is easy to forget the difficulties many of our ancestors faced when fighting for the rights we now enjoy. Because the United States is a "nation of laws and not of men," these people were able to challenge unfair laws in hope of a better future. Fights for Rights explains our everyday rights of free speech and religion, the rights of the accused, and how our Constitution guarantees these rights for all people, including women and African Americans.

The Black Press and the First Amendment

The Black Press and the First Amendment PDF Author: James De Bois Williams
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : African American press
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description


What is Wrong with the First Amendment?

What is Wrong with the First Amendment? PDF Author: Steven H. Shiffrin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107160960
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
This book argues that America's relationship with the First Amendment jeopardizes privacy, equality, fair trials and democracy.

HATE

HATE PDF Author: Nadine Strossen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019085913X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
HATE dispels misunderstandings plaguing our perennial debates about "hate speech vs. free speech," showing that the First Amendment approach promotes free speech and democracy, equality, and societal harmony. We hear too many incorrect assertions that "hate speech" -- which has no generally accepted definition -- is either absolutely unprotected or absolutely protected from censorship. Rather, U.S. law allows government to punish hateful or discriminatory speech in specific contexts when it directly causes imminent serious harm. Yet, government may not punish such speech solely because its message is disfavored, disturbing, or vaguely feared to possibly contribute to some future harm. When U.S. officials formerly wielded such broad censorship power, they suppressed dissident speech, including equal rights advocacy. Likewise, current politicians have attacked Black Lives Matter protests as "hate speech." "Hate speech" censorship proponents stress the potential harms such speech might further: discrimination, violence, and psychic injuries. However, there has been little analysis of whether censorship effectively counters the feared injuries. Citing evidence from many countries, this book shows that "hate speech" laws are at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive. Their inevitably vague terms invest enforcing officials with broad discretion, and predictably, regular targets are minority views and speakers. Therefore, prominent social justice advocates in the U.S. and beyond maintain that the best way to resist hate and promote equality is not censorship, but rather, vigorous "counterspeech" and activism.

Black Resistance/White Law

Black Resistance/White Law PDF Author: Mary Frances Berry
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0140232982
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
How the government has used the Constitution to deny black Americans their legal rights From the arrival of the first twenty slaves in Jamestown to the Howard Beach Incident of 1986, Yusef Hawkins, and Rodney King, federal law enforcement has pleaded lack of authority against white violence while endorsing surveillance of black rebels and using “constitutional” military force against them. In this groundbreaking study, constitutional scholar Mary Frances Berry analyzes the reasons why millions of African Americans whose lives have improved enormously, both socially and economically, are still at risk of police abuse and largely unprotected from bias crimes.