Case Of Free Speech During Times example essay topic

Ever since the September 11th attacks over a year ago, I've been concerned with the way our colleges, government, and even individual citizens have been handling the way people have been dealing with their animosity toward certain people. The right of free speech is a right we take for granted. Even though we are expected to pull together during times of crisis, not everyone does-and this is why the fine line separating our rights from pushing ideals on others, becomes very fuzzy. On one side, we have the people rallying behind our government and their decisions. They hold support rallies and print newspapers with patriotic columns in order to gather support for our cause. They believe that this is how we should utilize our right of free speech.

On the other side, we have people who believe that whenever something bad happens to us, we had it coming, and we should stop making a big deal about it. They wear flags upside down, destroy the newspapers distributed by the other side, and hold rallies in an attempt to sway those sitting on the line toward them. They believe this is an exercise of their first amendment rights. We all have certain rights, and we expect those rights to be respected by everyone-unfortunately this isn't always the case.

Tensions run high during times like this, but I think that we have one underlying quality that keeps us together-we are Americans. It is my belief that if you choose to live with in our borders and reap the benefits of our economy, you need to act like an American. We are free to think whatever we choose to think, but there is a difference between thinking freely and not allowing others to think freely. Why do people suddenly have the right to tell us how and when we can show our support for the actions our government has decided to take to protect us?

It just doesn't make sense. As we learn from Dahlia Lithwick, in the September 20th, 2002 edition of Slate Magazine, a year after the September 11th attacks we are still suspending professors at universities for simply expressing their opinion. In fact, Lithwick tells us that this is the case on many universities around the United States, and it doesn't seem as if this is ending like it already has in other institutions in America. I also think that we need to calm down and quit thinking that everyone who doesn't think like us is foolish. Sometimes when everyone agrees, it is a good thing. If we all had the same beliefs and ideals, there wouldn't be disagreements within Congress, fights between neighbors, or lengthy drawn out civil court trials.

This seems like a perfect solution, yet it doesn't provide for one of the most important elements of our society-disagreements. Through disagreements and debate, one is able to see both sides of an argument and make a decision based on what has been presented. I know that many people have a particular idea set in their mind and it is hard to see the other side of that matter. This is where the power of controversy and disagreement comes in; it allows us to be enlightened by other possibilities. In the case of free speech during times like these, many don't want to see the other side. But it is unfair to allow one side a right to expression, and not the other.

This is why we have to use our own judgment and decide the appropriate time to express our sometimes, "Un-American" viewpoints-and it is my opinion, that no one has the right to tell us we can't think what we want to, or express our opinions when we feel the need to. Lithwick, Dahlia. "Free Speech 101". Slate Magazine 20 September 2002.