haven't found much... (Score 1)

This may sound odd, but I've yet to come across any blatantly racist
or hateful messages on internet.

And I've poured over quite a few web pages, including some of the
seedier sites to which one is forcibly directed while searching for
mp3's or the odd serial number for shareware programs.

True, most of those have been offensive and disgusting, definitely
hurtful towards women and minors, but they hardly seem to constitute
hate-crime or propaganda for or against any particular groups.

What I do find on the net, not surprisingly, are things that
reinforce the stereotypes that have been impressed upon us and
fostered by the news media and sensational television programs.

These viewpoints begin in our school rooms at the earliest grades,
and are largely reinforced by the history books that are forced
down the throats of students -- usually with no secondary sources
to balance them or challenge their credence.

I would hope the UN would attempt to level things by making more
information available to students -- the whole, truthful view of
history; one that does not glorify those who rose to positions
of power by oppressing others and silencing the stories of any
who would voice dissent.

And hopefully such an education would lead to a more responsible
and less biased media.

We all despise the idea of censorship and fear challenges to the freedom
of expression... but let's not be blind to the fact that we are
already victims of such; our journalists do not get to present a
full, unbiased story, but are assigned their particular "angle"
before they even start assembling their data.

And the content of television news and the printed press are determined
by sponsors and the owners of the TV stations and newspapers.

Our only hope is to challenge the status quo that ignores or permits
this sort of treatment, and to encourage free expression,
especially on the internet -- whether it be of a nature with
which we do not agree or something we support whole-heartedly.

Information and knowledge are sacred things; truthful, unbiased
and complete information is vital to the growth of the individual
and the formation of a realistic world view. It is only when
information is withheld or perverted that racism and hateful
illusions can be maintained.