Why is not against the law to be racist?

afreshpath_admin

Racism is certainly vile and disgusting but I don't want any law that would infringe on peoples right to believe and say what the want.

If you feel that there should be a law governing all aspects of belief and thought, then you are in the wrong country.

Reducto

If racism were illegal Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, Kanye West and many others would be rotting in prison right now.

Lurch

Here in the US we have what are known as "hate crimes". I think it's b.s. though, a crime is a crime no matter what the motivation behind it. Racism starts as a thought. The minute we start legislating people's thoughts we are all in big trouble.

mike UK

Because the definition of racism is too wide; the word is used for example by the supporters of unlimited mass immigration . If a real British person complains that the UK is filled with millions of people from the Middle East and Africa the person is often insulted by an oversimplified use of the word "racist"

LauraLorLor

It is against the law to incite racial hatred.

LeTourDeFrance

people are free to think what they like, hate whatever they want. it would be a grey area about what is considered racist or not. take the remarks of don imus for example. should someone be imprisoned for that if he came out and said "ya i hate black people"? or what happens if he had said it was just a misunderstanding. how do you decide if there was malicious intent? racism is yea bad and there is no crime against freely thinking and displaying what you believe. i mean where do you draw the line of who gets sent to jail or not. it would do more bad than good having a law against it. discrimination of races though- that can hurt u in the court room

pogtwa

LIKE QUENTIN TARRANTINO SAYS "IT'S JUST A WORD"

Nuf said

well can you imagine what a mess the courts would be in if they actually outlawed it?

It is against the law to discriminate against someone because of their race. You cant tell someone you're not hiring them because they're black.. even if it's a modelling contract for peachy coloured skin products. you have to beat around the bush.

A guy I used to work with got a police caution because he sent a racist joke text message to the wrong person.. so thats against the law

So what could they outlaw? Peoples' attitudes?

Kristian <(-.-<)

*I hate racists*

Okay it is pretty much because racism can be in many forms.

Verbal. - Imagine how many people would take things that were not meant to be racist, as racist.

Psychological- Picking a white person over a black person or a Caucasian over an Asian. May or may not be intentional. Can be interpreted differently.

There is no verbal murder. There is no stealing of the mind.

The compensation law that a thief can claim is old news. It is just stupid.....

So basically it would be too hard to enforce and too many "he said she said" cases would arise.

Songbyrd JPA âœ¡ Jewish Lawyer

It is called freedom of speech and association.
As to you other stupid laws.

1. Urban Legend. You can use reasonable force, and in your home, up to deadly force.
2. Right to a fair trial. Remember, DNA has gotten a lot of innocent defendants after they were convicted.
3. See answer 1.

If you want laws against thoughts, best be careful. It might be your thoughts that are made illegal.

I despise racists, but that is the price of a democracy.

bud

A lot of things are against the law but people still break it so why make that against the law just to be broken

Disco Stu

I completely agree with those three laws mentioned, they are completely stupid, having been a victim of burglary many times (I used to live in a rough part of London) I simply can't believe that those laws exist, especially the third one, it seems we now have to accommodate for burglars and make sure their crime is as easy and safe as possible to commit! With the racism thing, I agree, but it would be kind of hard to enforce, I'm guessing acts of racial hatred are against the law, but it would be hard to arrest someone just for being racist as you could easily lie about it. Plus, different people find different things to be racist, for example the N word (I don't like to say it because I think it is racist) in some cultures and groups it's completely taboo to use it, but in others it is used affectionately. BTW, in the additional details, is that meant to be condemned or commended, because it's a pretty sorry state of affairs if the UN commends racism!

Eric H

Being racist can't be against the law because it would violate the protections against persecution for a creed or belief system.

It sounds silly, but we don't prosecute people for what they are - we prosecute them for what they do.

So you can have private racist thought but you can't express or act on them without violating the law.

Patriot P

Sinful S UK Policeman: under UK law, are Muslims treated as strictly as others in areas of inciting hatred or exclusionary practices?

it always seems to me that no one, here or abroad, wants to call out Muslims for their own exclusionary practices.

Almond

Being a racist does not cause any injury or damages to an individual. However, in the case of employment or contracts being a racist is illegal.

Sinful_Sindy

Racism is illegal.
I don't know what country you are in but in England an offence which occurs because of racism is Racially Aggrivated- assault, damage etc.
Then all the public order offences cover racism. The same is also for homophobic crimes and those against a religion. They are called HATE crimes.

Amy T

because it's impossible to control peoples ways of thinking,some people are just stupid racists,with stupid racist brains!

Ruth S

It's all in the eye's and mind of the individual! What is right for me, maybe wrong for you! I like your second paragraph though! You say we teach our children not to be a racist! WRONG! this is where all the hatred starts!! The parents opinion is passed on to the children, same with religion, THEIR religion becomes the childs'! If parents would leave these two things out of their child's upbringing, there would be less hatred in this world! A child will ask questions, and it's up to the parents to make sure their answers are neutral. Religion was not FORCED on me, and I was allowed to make up my own mind as I grew up. I do the same with my children. Influence is a dangeous thing. Now to answer some of your other questions. 1. Yes you can! If you are confronted with an intruder, it's better to (and I hate to say this) kill the guy, then call the police! Just make sure he is all the way in your home! It's better to be judged by 12, than carried by six!

Mr Abba

In the UK it is illegal.

Guitar Lady

It's a good idea. I suppose it would be extremely difficult to reinforce - for example you'd end up with thousands of cases where nothing can be done because it was all done to word of mouth and no one else heard it etc. But theoretically it's good idea.

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