Nat Hentoff on 'Hate Crime' Laws

An oldie but a goodie less than six minutes long by the late,  great Nat Hentoff, civil libertarian.*  We of the Coalition of the Sane and Reasonable need to punch back hard against the willfully self-enstupidated wokesters who confuse dissent with hate. As Hentoff points out, 'hate crime' is thought crime.

Here is a recent example of what we are up against:

“Under the proposed statute, ‘intimidate and harass’ can mean whatever the victim, or the authorities, want them to mean. The focus is on how the victim feels rather than on a clearly defined criminal act. This is a ridiculously vague and subjective standard,” he said.

“The absence of intent makes no difference under this law. You are still guilty of the crime because the victim felt uncomfortable.

“The bill will lead to the prosecution of conservatives, pastors, and parents attending a school board meeting for simply expressing their opposition to the liberal agenda,” Kallman said.

The proposed statute is obviously insane and anti-civilizational as any reasonable person will immediately discern. Like it or not we are now in the Age of Feeling.  

Let it be noted en passant that 'liberal agenda' is not quite the right phrase; 'hard' Left' and 'woke' are more fitting adjectives.  To say it again: don't confuse a classical with a contemporary liberal. The latter slouches toward the Gomorrah of wokery. A pox be upon all who so slouch.

Related: The Age of Feeling or the Age of Pussies?

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*Your humble correspondent first encountered the erudite hipster Hentoff in the pages of Down Beat magazine in the mind-'60s. If memory serves, he attended Boston Latin.

Comments

[DBagwill]

"wokesters who confuse dissent with hate"

Well said, Bill.

[Joe Odegaard]

If you are a white Christian male, your mere existence is a hate crime to some people already.