What do you think?
Rate this book
Destructive Messages: How Hate Speech Paves the Way For Harmful Social Movements by Alexander Tsesis
"Tsesis lays out theoretical foundations that he argues should be intrinsic to a representative democracy . . . an important contribution to the literature about civil liberties and human rights."—Choice
"The genuine accomplishment of Tsesis's book...is to focus the hate speech debate on explicitly normative issues." —Michigan Law Review
"[A] comprehensive and brilliant book from both a historical and analytical perspective. Drawing from the lessons of history, Alexander Tsesis shows persuasively the relevance of the Thirteenth Amendment to a wide range of the social and economic issues currently facing America, and he offers highly creative arguments that support the use of congressional power under the Thirteenth Amendment as a potent and effective means of meeting and resolving these issues." —G. Sidney Buchanan, Baker & Botts Chaired Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center
"Tsesis vigorously presents a set of arguments that are rarely found in the conventional legal literature. . . . An interesting and challenging book." —Sanford V. Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law and Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin School of Law
In this narrative history and contextual analysis of the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery and freedom take center stage. Alexander Tsesis demonstrates how entrenched slavery was in pre-Civil War America, how central it was to the political events that resulted in the Civil War, and how it was the driving force that led to the adoption of an amendment that ultimately provided a substantive assurance of freedom for all American citizens.
The story of how Supreme Court justices have interpreted the Thirteenth Amendment, first through racist lenses after Reconstruction and later influenced by the modern civil rights movement, provides valuable insight into the tremendous impact the Thirteenth Amendment has had on the Constitution and American culture. Importantly, Tsesis also explains why the Thirteenth Amendment is essential to contemporary America, offering fresh analysis on the role the Amendment has played regarding civil rights legislation and personal liberty case decisions, and an original explanation of the substantive guarantees of freedom for today's society that the Reconstruction Congress envisioned over a century ago.
"The genuine accomplishment of Tsesis's book...is to focus the hate speech debate on explicitly normative issues." —Michigan Law Review
"[A] comprehensive and brilliant book from both a historical and analytical perspective. Drawing from the lessons of history, Alexander Tsesis shows persuasively the relevance of the Thirteenth Amendment to a wide range of the social and economic issues currently facing America, and he offers highly creative arguments that support the use of congressional power under the Thirteenth Amendment as a potent and effective means of meeting and resolving these issues." —G. Sidney Buchanan, Baker & Botts Chaired Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center
"Tsesis vigorously presents a set of arguments that are rarely found in the conventional legal literature. . . . An interesting and challenging book." —Sanford V. Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law and Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin School of Law
In this narrative history and contextual analysis of the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery and freedom take center stage. Alexander Tsesis demonstrates how entrenched slavery was in pre-Civil War America, how central it was to the political events that resulted in the Civil War, and how it was the driving force that led to the adoption of an amendment that ultimately provided a substantive assurance of freedom for all American citizens.
The story of how Supreme Court justices have interpreted the Thirteenth Amendment, first through racist lenses after Reconstruction and later influenced by the modern civil rights movement, provides valuable insight into the tremendous impact the Thirteenth Amendment has had on the Constitution and American culture. Importantly, Tsesis also explains why the Thirteenth Amendment is essential to contemporary America, offering fresh analysis on the role the Amendment has played regarding civil rights legislation and personal liberty case decisions, and an original explanation of the substantive guarantees of freedom for today's society that the Reconstruction Congress envisioned over a century ago.
Hardcover
First published August 19, 2002
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 8, 2010
Tsesis' view of the First Amendment may be an frequently ignored minority position, but it is one that warrants more attention.
Pointing to history, sociology, and case law, he makes a convincing case that hate speech is harmful and dangerous ("prejudicial speech initiates, perpetuates, and aggravates socially accepted misrepresentation about outgroups [...:] the greater the barrage of misethnic and subordinating stereotypes, the more likely it is that persons with intense hatreds will release their pent-up frustrations and angers on vulnerable minorities"), that "Hate speech, like defamation, can be limited without violating the First Amendment" (135), and that the United States' current position on hate speech is blind and backward when compared to much of the rest of the world (192).
That being said, the book is dense, repetitious, and sometimes dull. I would strongly recommend reading Tsesis' article "Dignity and Speech: The Regulation of Speech in a Democracy" (44 Wake Forest Law Review 497 [2009:]) instead for a more readable approach to the same arguments.
Pointing to history, sociology, and case law, he makes a convincing case that hate speech is harmful and dangerous ("prejudicial speech initiates, perpetuates, and aggravates socially accepted misrepresentation about outgroups [...:] the greater the barrage of misethnic and subordinating stereotypes, the more likely it is that persons with intense hatreds will release their pent-up frustrations and angers on vulnerable minorities"), that "Hate speech, like defamation, can be limited without violating the First Amendment" (135), and that the United States' current position on hate speech is blind and backward when compared to much of the rest of the world (192).
That being said, the book is dense, repetitious, and sometimes dull. I would strongly recommend reading Tsesis' article "Dignity and Speech: The Regulation of Speech in a Democracy" (44 Wake Forest Law Review 497 [2009:]) instead for a more readable approach to the same arguments.
Displaying 1 of 1 review