Sandra Caddy, Castlemaine
I agree with Dean Bridgfoot that ‘hate speech incites and normalises violence and is a threat to our democracy’ (‘A shared humanity’, Opinions, April 9).
Unfortunately the term hate speech is deceptively used to drown out any speech, facts, statistics etc. that a certain section of our demography hate to hear and refuse to acknowledge.
Sadly it appears that extremism now refers to unwanted discussions surrounding the reality of mounting daily atrocities and the demise of our society rather than the atrocities themselves.
Like you Dean, I feel it is important to name hate speech and its destructive impact on our democracy and also, like you Dean, I am putting effort and hope into building a peaceful and just future for our children; may we succeed.
