The past few weeks I've had the honor and pleasure of editing a high-profile book about how "hate speech" should be countered not by censorship and "hate speech" codes, but rather by MORE speech and counter-arguments. The publisher has put the book on the fast track because this is such a white-hot issue, so I've been working at all hours with the author, Nadine Strossen, former head of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Ms. Strossen was a delight to work with, thanking me for each of my queries and corrections, taking the time to think through some tricky style choices (should we use the actual odious words or bowdlerize them?) and apologizing when she had to keep submitting updates on this quickly changing topic. She even thanked me, a lowly copy editor, in the introduction.
Not only was her writing polished and clear, but her arguments were brilliant and backed by compelling evidence that "hate speech" codes, no matter how well intentioned and carefully worded, simply don't work and are often used against the very people they are meant to protect.
The book, titled "HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech Not Censorship," is excellent, readable and much-needed and I'll be happy to add it to my CV. I hope it's a best-seller.
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