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"... I'm Just Kidding!"

Someone says: "You sound like a screech owl when you sing!" And then, they follow up with "I'm just kidding!" Or a spouse says, "Maybe you need to stay away from the donuts! I'm just kidding." Hurtful words spoken, and then followed up with an excuse of they are only joking, can still be very hurtful! Are they really joking, or do they actually intend to insult us by making what they think is a harmless insinuation? How are we to take them? We may not know for sure! Their words can still hurt!

I might ask that person: "Do you really mean to hurt me with those words? If so, you have!"

Hate speech is NOT always as described: Hate speech is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thought to include communications of animosity or disparagement of an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation". Legal definitions of hate speech vary from country to country. 


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