The First Amendment has led Americans to believe in a hallowed sense of freedom that does not exist; freedom of speech. Freedom of speech in this country has never been absolute. You can?t yell fire in a crowded theater, solicit bribes, make terrorist threats, slander another, intentionally inflict emotional distress or be obscene in public (Dickerson).

What Americans do have a right to is their opinion and the means by which to express it, no matter if the opinion is favorable or not. There are some advocates who champion for restrictions on unfavorable speech, like violent or racist remarks. And though the intentions behind such beliefs are made in good faith, it is unrealistic to believe the mission of filtering out racist speech could be completed without catching in the same net all kinds of other speech that is considered ?OK? (Lawrence III 514). I firmly believe that a government that tells its citizens what is appropriate to say will soon be dictating what they may think also, and by that, it is unlawful for the government to regulate racist or violent speech. By doing so the government would intrude on students? creativity and learning process, would set illusive res

Secondly, the government?s specific censorship of a racist?s remarks will not always solve the problem at hand. For example, in 1995 the California Supreme Court forbade John Lawrence from using racial slurs ever again after being found guilty of workplace harassment (Dickerson). Eight of Lawrence?s Latino co-workers at Avis Car Rental were awarded a total of $150,000 in damages after they were exposed to verbal harassment from Lawrence. They were routinely battered with names like ?wetback,? ?crook? and ?spic,? along with being demeaned for their poor English skills. Yes, racial epithets and harassment often cause deep emotional scarring for victims (Lawrence III 515), but the court?s actions after the fact leaves many

Ehrenreich, Barbara. ?Ice-T: The Issue is Creative Freedom.?

traints on racist behavior, and undermine the Constitution at whole.

?How Not to Stifle a Racist.? Ed. Debra Dickerson. Salon.com.

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