Access to Opportunities in Multicultural Societies and the Relevance of Public Expression

Abstract

The presence of minority groups with cultural backgrounds that differ from mainstream society cultural standards may determine a gap between social opportunities and personal options: it can be the case that social opportunities in society as a whole are not perceived as effective options by the members of minority groups. Furthermore, the building of options is hindered by the sort of hate messages which strongly affect the portrayal of minority groups and contribute in turn to diminish personal autonomy. The author affirms that, since options are context-dependent and personal autonomy relies on them, hate speech in multicultural societies compromises the degree of personal autonomy of members of minority groups.