Millennial Beat

These days it is hard to have an opinion without someone being offended by it. With the ability to share thoughts and opinions on any issue instantly, it is easy to find someone that does not particularly agree with what you’ve just expressed. We’ve all heard of the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated. That mantra has carried us from the playground to the workplace, even when it was hard to follow. Part of the Golden Rule is also to be mindful of what you say. Don’t say something to hurt other people. This is where the practice of Political Correctness was birthed.

While I do believe that people should not willfully wield their tongues to hurt an entire culture of people, individuals need to learn that being offended is a part of having conviction, passion, and respect for a specific part of your life. It will happen whenever someone from a different walk of life disagrees with you. Something that they say, do, or post on social media will probably offend you.

In the age of political correctness, many people suggest that the First Amendment right to free speech is often infringed upon. While it may be true that you have the right to say whatever you want, that doesn’t mean that you should say whatever you want, or that you will not face backlash or criticism for doing so. It is important to understand why we have the right to free speech. The ability to create societal change is why freedom of speech is so important.

The First Amendment of the United States protects the free speech of Americans. During the 1960’s, free speech helped to add fuel to the Civil Rights movement, and later to protest the Vietnam War. 

In 1964, students at the University of California Berkley began to protest the campus’s ban on political activities. According to the Calisphere, the online historical archive of the University of California, the almost three month protest ended with nearly 800 students being arrested while occupying the Administration Building. Afterwards, the rights for the students to participate in political debates and expressions were allowed, and the entire administration was removed from campus. The student activism expressed was unlike any other kind of protest during this time. The protest made headlines all around the world and is known historically as the Free Speech Movement.

In 1969, Mary Beth and John Tinker along with some of their friends wore back bands around their arms to close in protest of the Vietnam war. The teens were suspended from school after they refused to remove the armbands, as requested by school officials. This incident brought on the landmark Tinker vs De Moines Independent School District Supreme Court case. The court ruled in favor of the students saying that teachers as well as students didn’t have to “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Student activism through protest and speech  can have a very powerful outcome. At many different points in history, young people on college campuses have voiced their opinions and concerns through many outlets of resistance in order to incite changes around them. Most recently students at the University of Missouri held a hunger strike in protest of their president and the way he handled, or didn’t handle, racial incidences that were happening on campus. Soon after the hunger strike the Missouri football team released a statement, with support of the athletic advisors and coaches, protesting playing football until the president was fired. He resigned as president on Monday.

Whether you agree with the actions of the students at the University of Missouri, their tenacity made a change in a system that they felt did not represented them, or the needs and concerns of the student body. Creating change through activism is what the First Amendment is all about. Free speech is granted to us all through the constitution so that we can have the ability to stand up to corruption without fearing consequences from the government. Free speech is more than just sharing your opinions on social media. Being able to use words and expressions to create societal change is what the first amendment protects. You can say whatever you wish to say, but having something meaningful to say is more powerful than simply having an opinion.