[WikiEN-l] WHEELER's anti-Semitism

[steven l. rubenstein]

Chris Mahan recently wrote:

>The reason why I say that hate speech is not destructive is that
>speech itself is strictly communicative.

which begs the question, what do you mean by "communicative?"  I assume you 
mean that the only thing it does is to describe or express something else, 
but has not force in and of itself.  If this is what CM means, he is 
mistaken.  Some propositions are indeed expressive or descriptive (e.g., "I 
feel sick" or "the house is blue" -- in the first case the proposition 
describes how I feel, in the second case it describes the house.  In both 
cases the proposition is about something else).  But some propositions are 
performative -- statements which are in and of themselves actions.  J.L. 
Austin provides some pretty common examples: when someone says "I name this 
ship The Queen Elizabeth" it is the very pronouncement that accomplishes 
the naming.  Similarly, when one says "I bet you ..." it is the act of 
saying so that constitutes the bet.  Or when someone says "I promise," it 
is the very act of speaking that accomplishes the promise.  You can call 
these statements "communicative" if you like -- what is important is a 
major distinction between these kinds of statements and statements like 
"the house is blue."

The question is, what kind of proposition is "Jewish concentration camps" 
(meaning, concentration camps run by Jews) I think the answer is, both.  It 
is a descriptive statement that can be either true or false (and in the 
case of the camps WHEELER was referring too, false).  But I believe it is 
also a performative statement, and it is in this sense that it is hate 
speech, and destructive.

Some people have suggested that what makes it hate speech is its potential 
to incite physical violence.  I think this is valid (and a valid legal 
principle: threatening someone may be punishable, at least in the U.S., or 
may not -- courts decide in part from weighing how likely the threat could 
lead to physical violence).  But the argument of "hate speech" is that 
performative statements are in and of themselves violent.  One example is 
the power of speech to intimidate (and although threats may be purely 
verbal, they can still be actionable for this reason).  This was 
established in the United States by the 1942 Supreme Court decision 
Chaplinsky versus New Hampshire, which is the basis for some hate speech 
legislation in the U.S. (and available on the web).  Another is the power 
of speech to stigmatize (this is in effect the argument MacKinnon and 
Dworkin made against pornography -- the very act renders women sexual objects).

The ACLU opposes hate speech legislation on two grounds: first, it 
considers hate speech one of the prices a society must pay for a general 
right to freedom of speech, and second, it believes the best response to 
hate speech is more speech.  I happen to sympathize very strongly, or just 
plain agree, with both of these.  I do not think the state should limit 
free speech.  WHEELER, for example, has a right to say whatever 
anti-Semitic thing he wants to, to anyone who wants to listen.

The question is, do I have to listen?  Do you, do we have to listen?  And, 
more importantly, does Wikipedia have to be a medium through which anyone 
spews hate speech?  I don't think so.

And I think that anyone who construes this argument against hate speech on 
Wikipedia as censorship is seriously distorting the situation.  Wikipedia 
is a community, not the state.  Just because a person has a legal right to 
do something does not mean we are obliged to collude.  For example, people 
have a right to advertise but we do not allow advertisements on 
Wikipedia.  Advertisements do not benefit our project, and only mislead 
people as to the nature of our project.  The same goes for hate speech. If 
I thought it were possible that hate speech on Wikipedia could lead to the 
improvement of an article, for example, I would defend it.  But I don't 
think it leads to the improvement of articles, and only appropriates our 
space to hateful purposes.

Steve


Steven L. Rubenstein
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Bentley Annex
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701
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