Legitimacy (Malik Speaking)
				Source		MAIN PATH: Vera
					Vera		Dee

I disagree completely. In fact I think the situation is exactly the opposite of what you say. Of course, if we gave government the right and the power to form all the values and attitudes of its citizens, your argument would be correct. But we don't have to do that.

What we have to do is to find out which specific ideas and values are necessary for the effective working of legitimate democratic government, and allow government (along with private parties) to create those ideas and values.

I think we all agree that racist ideas, because they mark some people as basically inferior, make it impossible for government to regard each of its citizens with equal concern and respect. We also agree that legitimate government should do just that. It follows that we must change the culture, eliminating stigma, in order to have legitimate government. And the government itself must be involved because it is the only agency that can hope to do the job.

Ariadne Home	Hate Speech Bibliography	Hate Speech Home