Thread by @coldxman

1/ My sense is that the ppl who want to expand this hate speech law in NYC are relying on the stereotype that white men are the ones doing the hating.

A few weeks ago, I ordered a Via at 3AM. My driver was a middle-aged black woman. From the start,

nypost.com/2019/09/26/cit…

2/ she complained to me about how exhausted she was. She lived in NJ, but drove in NYC at night for extra cash. Halfway through the ride, a cab cut her off. She rolled down the window and, in typical NYC fashion, exchanged pointed words with the driver, who looked Arab.

3/ As their exchange escalated, she yelled, "Shut up, you f**ing foreigner," and proceeded to complain to me about his foreignness as she drove away.

This is one of many such stories I could tell.

4/ With all the proper caveats––anecdotes are not data, my experience is an N=1, etc.––I've observed that, in NYC, the worst xenophobia comes from black people, and the worst anti-black racism comes from Arab and South-Asian immigrants.

5/5 Bigotry and xenophobia are ugly sentiments no matter where they come from, and, without doubt, white New Yorkers are guilty of both.

But my sense is that those who want to expand hate speech laws believe those laws would mainly punish white people. It may be the reverse.