The first amendment is one of the most common and most easily recognizable amendments to the general public. We’re taught about it from an early age as something people are able to use to speak their opinion. And there’s the common notion that we can’t use it to justify shouting “fire” in a packed movie theatre.

The purpose of the first amendment is to allow Americans the fundamental right to speak their truth without fear that the government will try to prosecute them. But how far are we willing to let someone go before what they’re saying is no longer protected by the right to freedom of speech?

It is clear that different people have varying beliefs about when we can actually justify what we say with “free speech,” or when it is just being used as a vail of protection to words that could have easily been deemed racist, sexist, or hateful.

A big controversy arose when Colin Kaepernick, a football player who previously played for 49ers, chose to kneel during the national anthem as a way of showing how upset he was with the lack of police accountability surrounding the shootings of unarmed, innocent black men and women. Many conservatives felt like Kaepernick was being disrespectful towards America and should be punished by the NFL for his accounts.

This sprouted many debates as to whether Kaepernick was truly being disrespectful; he claims he wasn’t being disrespectful, and if anything he was saying because of how much he loves America he wanted police to be more accountable to make America an even better place. However, his explanation was not taken as planned and when other NFL players also chose to kneel, conservatives decided that the NFL should put in place a rule that prohibits players from kneeling.

Another major controversy happened just this past week when the star of the recently renewed show Roseanne, Roseanne Barr, tweeted an obviously racist comment towards former President Obama's advisor Valerie Jarrett, comparing her to an ape. Users of twitter were horrified by her remarks and ABC, the show's network, went as far as to cancel the upcoming season of Roseanne.

Roseanne Barr later took to Twitter to apologize to anyone who was offended by her tweet and to all the crew members of her show who are now out of a job. Both fans and conservatives alike were mad at ABC for canceling the show, stating that Roseanne was simply using her freedom of speech.

Those who disagree were quick to point out that those same conservatives were the ones demanding the NFL punish players, who others might say were just using their freedom of speech like Roseanne apparently was too.

Although technically only the government is allowed to prosecute someone for a violation of the first amendment, not the NFL or ABC or any other individuals/corporation, we need to step back and really think about these type of events. While some may argue that one, both, or neither of these events are unconstitutional, what really matters most is how we treat these situations. In our country, state, town, or communities, we need standards.

How will we judge what is right and what is wrong? I know these are hard topics to answer and we might not ever come to a conclusion. But we can't keep punishing someone for doing something, and then turn around to defend someone for doing the same thing.

So next time your collecting your metaphorically pitch forks remember this: although someone might clearly be disrespectful, racist, hateful, etc. you need to remember how you treated someone else in the same position. We won't be able to move forward and trust one another if we're always on the ready to attack or defend.