A little while back, I saw a status update of a friend talking about what a nice spring break she was having volunteering at her old school. Some time later comes a guy who ended up ruining her post by bashing her school and everyone in it. She didn’t say anything that called for that kind of hatred and didn’t target anyone else, she simply talked about how happy she was. He felt that his hateful words were so important, so absolutely necessary, that he just had to say them.
People can shout out loud, post comments, preach hate and it’s acceptable. In fact, the First Amendment gives you the right to do just that. You are free to engage in hate speech all you want, but devastatingly so. I thought about going over all the definitions. How hate speech is defined as speech that attacks a person or group based on traits such as race, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion or disability. How “fighting words” are the only ones not protected under the First Amendment. Fighting words, just by their face-to-face utterance, inflict injury or tend to provoke an immediate infringement of the peace. Basically, they’re words said directly to a person to cause a physical dispute. Freedom of speech is actually a big issue right now concerning what is protected under it. But I don’t want to bother you with all that, I don’t want to make this political. That isn’t what I’m here to talk about. I’m trying to talk about human decency.
Nowadays, the First Amendment is the biggest excuse from those ignorant, barbaric Internet trolls. They will make these malicious comments and when someone will ask them to stop or point out their hate, their defense is always the same, “It’s freedom of speech!”
They’re right, though. It is a public platform and they can say rude or offensive things. In fact, the Internet is a great place to connect with others and have debates about any topic you wish. But, I believe, as humans, there’s an important line between freedom of speech and basic human decency. I ask you, what makes a person say such hateful words about another? There are two sides to every argument, and anything you say someone is going to disagree with. I’m not asking for everyone to suddenly agree with each other or get along, I know that won’t happen. Just show some damn mutual respect. Use words to influence and create, not to be bitter or petty. If what you’re going to say is damaging toward another, why say anything? What will you achieve? By all means, speak your opinion, but do so in the right way.
Maybe I’m naïve. Maybe I’m too young and I don’t understand the world yet—that is most likely true. But I don’t want to be consumed by a world of hate and intolerance. Maybe I’m decent, maybe I’m kind and maybe I believe that being considerate is more necessary than hate. So, while it is argued that we have the right to free speech, I’m going to argue that we can choose to be kinder with that speech. I’m going to argue that we can make an impact by placing tolerance above bigotry and compassion above hate. We have been given the privilege as U.S. citizens to speak our minds, so let’s do so in a meaningful way.
You can disagree with me all you want though; after all, it is your right.
