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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
John W. Fountain

Kanye West’s comments were hate speech, but others should be called on that, too

Kanye West. (Evan Agostini / AP)

Words are powerful. Spewed or written, they can form the mighty winds of hate that gust and rage. That stir the storms and tides that can rise and surge into a destructive path of violence and murder. Create a culture of acceptance of the obscene and profane. 

Words can carry the otherwise-hidden deviance of hideous, hate-filled imaginations that lie deep in the heart against a people, a nation. Words of hate disparage, dehumanize, denigrate. They assemble the collective will and create faux justifications for mass murder, annihilation and genocide. 

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