Once upon a time, a negative comment of some kind had to be aimed at a minority group to be called "hate speech" but that is of course rather narrow. There are lots of people and things that get hated for all sorts of reasons. And the community may be adopting the wider meaning that has always been possible -- as we see in a recent dispute among an apparently all-black group:
A black local councillor in Milwaukee, Mike McGee, is being subjected to a recall election and he is not taking it kindly. He said on radio that one of his political opponents, Leon Todd, should be "hung" for betraying the community. He also gave out his opponent's phone no. on radio and urged listeners to call it.
Thuggish behavior, but is it not just a dispute between two individuals? Apparently not. Todd got a court order against the thug (no wonder he is being recalled!) and commented afterwards: "It's really a shame that we have reached this level. But when it comes to hate speech -- hate speech is not free speech, and we cross the line"
It seems that negative speech of all kinds is on the verge of being criminalized. And note also that the myth of hate speech not being free speech is invoked as if it were beyond question. That myth originates in nothing more than Leftist chants but it has gained an alarming amount of ground.
