Jonathan Auh
Mrs. Bahling
ELA
12 December 2016
EA #2 Argumentative Essay
The 1st amendment. One of the reasons the U.S.A. is one of the greatest countries to ever be created. Our founding fathers created freedom of speech because they believed that an open exchange of ideas was necessary for a successful democracy. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”(Rutherford) But they did not believe that hate speech was necessary for a successful democracy. Hate speech is defined as speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups based on race, religion, natural origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits. Hate speech is protected under the 1st amendment,
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And to say that at only 13 years old, I feel racism rising in our society today is horrible. It’s horrible to think how far we have progressed since our nation has started, and how downhill it is going right now. It is so discouraging to see the news when every time I look, there always seems to be some type of tragedy in the world. It ranges from “Young African American Boy Shot and Killed By Police Officer” to “Islamic Terrorist Kills 8 People In An Act Of Terror” or even lately, “White Supremacist speaks at Texas A&M, Protests on Campus”. All this makes me think that even though we may not be fighting an actual war right now, we are very well fighting a war, a quiet war, against …show more content…
Our ideas our welcome here and you can not stop us. The 1st amendment protects us.” Yes, you are right. America is a free country. And the 1st amendment does protect you. But guess what? The 1st amendment does not protect you from being a bully and ruining someone’s day. The 1st amendment does not make us leave this country just because you don’t like us. So choose love over hate. Hate can not stop people. People will keep going, no matter what others think. But love? Love can make someone’s day. It can change someone’s life, not for the worse, but for the better.
In our society today, anything can happen. A terrorist attack could happen at any given moment, or a tragedy could strike your family. So we can not and will not be divided. We need to be united. No matter the color of your skin, no matter what your religion, no matter your gender. It is 2016, and it’s time to make a difference in others’ lives. So I urge you to stop using the 1st amendment as an excuse for being hateful, and choose love over hate with me. Because I know that with love, we can make a huge difference in the