Black Lives Matter and the First Amendment

-

 The First Amendment is fundamental for citizens of the United States. Within the amendment, there are six freedoms addressed, one of which being freedom of speech. This refers to one’s ability to individually or as a group express how they feel about issues, whether that is beliefs, opinions, ideas, emotions, etc.

We have seen great examples of this in recent news involving the Black Lives Matter movement, witnessing gatherings, and protest in recent weeks. We are able to do this and voice our opinions because of the First Amendment and specifically, freedom of speech. However, this begs the question, when is it too much? 


A recent New York Times article was published about the new challenges that we are facing in light of these protests and riots. The death of George Floyd shook the country and in weeks following brought about protests on some of the largest scales seen. However, that does not mean they stop there. 


In Kenosha Wisconsin, a black man named Jacob Black was shot by Police. This brought about very familiar demonstrations from previous weeks that spread nationwide for the Black Lives Matter Movement. These movements and acts of expression have molded new and better ways to address the issues within our country which has been incredible to witness. However, good intentions such as voicing your beliefs can also come with damaging practices as well. 



Violence is no stranger to protests and gatherings for the Black Lives Matter movement which has been causing increasing concern. Vandalism, arson, and looting the article states has become a connecting factor to these protests. This is where we ask the question of what is protected under freedom of speech? The answer is that vandalism and violence during these riots are not protected, because they spark threats and danger to people.


Our freedom of speech is a powerful tool that we have the ability to use, but we must make sure to step back and think about the best way to voice our beliefs. Movements such as Black Lives Matter hold within them surmountable power for good and change when done correctly, and for that, we thank our Country’s First Amendment.


Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/us/black-lives-matter-protest.html



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EOTO - APPLE IPHONE

-
Image
The EOTO presentations were extremely beneficial when learning about different inventions. Most of what was discussed I had previous knowledge of, however, I was able to learn a lot more in-depth information of how things really came to be what I know them as today.  For example, one presentation I really enjoyed was the evolution of the iPhone. This is something that I personally use every single day, and the presentation made me realize just how remarkable it is to consider the technology I keep in my back pocket normal. https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-11 I learned more about apple's previous ventures with other companies and the first adaption of iTunes. It was fascinating to think that a project launched by apple could ever fail, but before the iPhone that was the case. The iPhone launched in 2007 but before that was the iPod, which was revolutionary for downloading multimedia.   The presentation showcased a timeline of the invention and It is incredible to see not
Read more

CITIZEN JOURNALISM

-
Image
  Citizen Journalism is a big part of our everyday lives. Something that we might even overlook or not fully comprehend sometimes. So what is it? Citizen Journalism is simply journalism by nonprofessionals. Non-professionals mean everyday people who are not investigative reporters or working for a news station. A lot of the time these people are consumers of professional journalism. Private individuals create their own news and broadcast it in a different way. Citizens collect, report, and analyze data just like a professional would as well but then take that and broadcast it on their own which creates what is known as user-generated content, which is the key to citizen journalism.   This user-generated content can be showcased in many different forms but are normally of a digital nature. This content could come from blogs, podcasts, or any form of social media. These posts are not limited to just words or reports, content can include images, audio, and video.   Social Media has had a
Read more

EOTO - ECHO CHAMBER

-
Image
 Listening to other EOTO presentations again was extremely beneficial I think for everyone. We learned about so many different key concepts related to current news and events happening in the U.S. One concept that I found extremely relevant was the Echo Chamber. I had never really heard of this before and with the relevance of the election, it was extremely useful and fascinating to learn about.   An Echo Chamber is an environment where only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own. Basically what this means is that people are only listening and reinforcing the same one-sided beliefs over and over again, never allowing for counter-argument or discussions.   One of the concerns talked about was the possibility of misinformation within echo chambers. I looked at it as almost like someone can brainwash you with their beliefs and they might not even be true since no one ever argues it.   https://observatory.tec.mx/edu-news/echo-chambers-critical-thinking-cris
Read more