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 r

In conclusion, ?freedom of speech is the lifeblood of our democratic system? (Lawrence III 514). No matter how hard we struggle, it is still so difficult to solve the racial puzzles in this country. Beyond our attempts to enforce affirmative action, bussing and minority scholarships, the honor of free speech is still in conflict with the elimination of racism (Lawrence III 513). Until Judge Bea, from the John Lawrence/Avis harassment case, incited the ruling banning Lawrence from using racial slurs again, a racist?s worst nightmare was being penalized for his past behaviors, but now he can be legally muzzled from spewing his invective again. (Dickerson). I feel this decision is in violation with the First Amendment, and we should not be proud of ourselves. Sometimes there isn?t a litigated, legislated, law-based answer to our problems (Dickerson). I do believe in a persons right to express his or her opinions. Although, this is not the norm to allow anyone to voice their opinions whenever and on whatever topic they want. Opinions that differ from the norm are sometimes subjected to constitutionality and scorn or are squelched all together. I stand by the military saying, I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for you to have the right to say it.

Hentoff, Nat. ?Free Speech on the Campus.? Elements of

*http://www.salon.com/mwt/tisd/1998/11/05tsd.html*

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

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1213
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)