With all the racial issues going on in the world, there have been many issues regarding free speech. The First Amendment of the Constitution declares that all citizens of the United States have free speech, excluding threats, child pornography, and the use of offensive words. A common debate is whether or not hate speech is protected by the First Amendment. Hate speech is used to insult and degrade people based on their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. The debate often discusses people's right to say what they want, regardless of who it affects. On the other hand, others argue that any hate speech is offensive and a threat to the targeted group. Overall, hate speech is technically not protected by the First Amendment free speech. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayRecently, there has been growing hatred for Muslims around the world due to the terrorist acts inflicted by ISIS. There have been several incidents where American citizens, Muslims, have been physically and verbally assaulted due to their slight connection to ISIS. Most people don't seem to understand the idea that just because ISIS is Muslim doesn't mean all Muslims are a common enemy. When people act against Muslims, they believe their actions are necessary to protect our country. However, their actions are illegal because they go beyond the scope of verbal attacks. If anything, most of these attacks are violent in nature. Therefore, these actions go against the idea of ​​free speech because these attacks are physical, threatening and dangerous against Muslims. The First Amendment of the Constitution states that there shall be no law prohibiting the practice of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or the freedom to peacefully protest. However, there are still things that the First Amendment does not protect. Such things include threats, child pornography, and fighting words. Often, hate speech is directed towards someone, thus making it a direct threat or fighting words. If someone says racial slurs towards someone of said race, this could easily push that person to fight the offender. In that case, the hate speech used would not be protected by the First Amendment because the interaction resulted in a dispute over racial slurs. In most cases, hate speech is protected by the First Amendment. Unless you agree with the statements, most hate speech is considered offensive. However, just because something is offensive doesn't necessarily mean it's illegal. As a Jewish teenager, seeing peers use the swastika is extremely offensive. The swastika represents a tragic moment in the world where over six million Jews were massacred at the hands of the Nazis. By drawing the swastika and using it as a joke, it is almost synonymous with saying that the Holocaust was a joke. However, no matter how offensive Jews find the swastika, it is not a crime to use it. The only time it becomes a crime is when someone marks it with personal property. In other words, if a teenager spray-painted a swastika on a Jewish person's house, that would be considered a crime, but not a crime violating hate speech. In such a scenario, referring to African Americans as an*gger is equally offensive. The word represents a time in our nation when African Americans were.