How Long Will Free Speech Stay Free?

America’s First Amendment has been in place since 1791 — can it survive election year 2024?

Photo by Sue Tucker on Unsplash

It’s true, America really is older than both Trump and Biden.

The USA turns 248 this July 4th.

So, how are you celebrating our breakup with the Brits this year?

Planning a picnic? Shooting off some fireworks? Tossing a handful of Earl Grey into a harbor?

Well, patriots, while you’re partying like it’s 1776, give a little shout-out to our First Amendment, will you?

It’s the reason you, me, and everyone else in America can write and publish almost anything without worrying about Big Brother rolling up in an Abrams tank to crush our QWERTY keyboards.

The First Amendment is an easy one to take for granted. We say whatever we want every day and assume it’s our God-given right. It’s not.

Guaranteeing free speech in America literally took an act of Congress.

In 1791, the Bill of Rights — 10 new additions to the United States Constitution — was ratified by enough states to become law.

The amendment that took top billing was the one ensuring freedom of speech and freedom of the press…the First Amendment. Of course, this meant the amendment about the right to bear arms came in second…a slight my grandpappy and his hunting dogs always took personally.

Bill of Rights background courtesy of National Archives. Graphic created in Canva.

So what makes the First Amendment all that and a bag of chips?

Well, I’m no constitutional scholar and definitely not the sharpest bulb in the toolshed, but I do know this: the First Amendment is vitally important to every one of us who reads, writes, and sometimes does both.

In less than fifty words, it says we’re free to let everyone know how brilliant (or oops, how stupid) we can be and the government can’t shut us up.

Sure, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are all part of America’s countless freedoms you should celebrate this Independence Day…

…but what really seals the deal for me in this grand experiment we call a democracy is the First Amendment.

For once, the politicians got it right.

And that’s good because if we’re being painfully honest here, our nation has gotten many things horribly wrong…

… slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, Jim Crow, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, Japanese American internment, McCarthyism…

…the list of screw-ups is long and, unfortunately, continues to grow.

Still, if there’s an ounce of redemption that can be salvaged from our most egregious transgressions, it’s this: we — you and me — can write about them.

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad via Pexels. Graphic created in Canva.

Thanks to the First Amendment, we can shout about injustices from the mountaintops, propose radical solutions from sea to shining sea, and we the people are free to let our voices be heard without fear of government retaliation.

What do you think citizens in places like China, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Cuba, Vietnam, Syria, Venezuela, and other countries run by oppressive governments would give for the freedom to express themselves like we can?

I should point out here that private enterprises and social media platforms such as Facebook, X, and Medium can make their own rules — First Amendment be damned.

But the big takeaway here is that our government can’t silence us, thanks to the First Amendment.

Or can they?

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash. Graphic created in Canva.

Well, we do have a sordid history in this country of censorship despite our First Amendment protections…

…beloved books like The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird have been banned in schools and libraries.

I remember when George Carlin’s Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television comedy bit had its day in court.

Then there’s Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. The Patriot Act and government surveillance.

Or how about government influencers badgering Meta and Twitter to take down posts they disagree with?

The threat to free speech is always present and not easily deterred.

But then there’s the flip side, the vilest of human nature masquerading as free speech…

…the doxxing, cyberbullying, child pornography, hate speech, racial slurs, personal intimidation, incitement of violence — I think we can all agree these twisted perversions don’t deserve First Amendment protection.

On the other hand, offensive words, off-putting ideas, conspiracy theories, and similar uncomfortable speech that might make your grandmother blush should still be allowed.

Photo by Samuel Branch on Unsplash. Graphic created in Canva.

I worry about us sometimes…

…it seems many people don’t have much use for free speech these days. Particularly with our country so polarized and unapologetically partisan.

Thinking outside the box — or, more accurately, thinking outside our cozy little echo chambers — is discouraged these days, right?

Different viewpoints give us the scaries. They challenge our beliefs, our traditions, even our identities.

We live in interesting times…

Long gone are the days when the news was spoon-fed to us in tasty little bites from familiar sources like newspapers, magazines, radio, and the Uncle Walts of broadcast TV.

Now “news” is practically shoved down our throats with a front loader — the all-you-can-eat buffet that’s open 24/7, and lucky you, featuring our just-added election-year specials — bon appetit!

So, what do you think?

Can our First Amendment, that lonely little sentence first penned with quill and ink in the late 1700s, survive the digital demands of the 21st century?

I hope so. I really do.

Freedom is a beautiful thing, but it’s as fragile as a butterfly’s wings. Ask anyone who’s had it and lost it.

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash. Graphic created in Canva.

Government overreach (federal and state) will always be a threat to free speech and a never-ending brawl in the courtrooms.

Corporate influence can buy what passes for truth — all it takes is enough money; all checks, few balances.

Social media platforms can and do censor all kinds of speech with impunity (again, that’s their right). But the delete key is a double-edged sword that can eliminate both the guilty and the good in a single stroke…it just depends on whose finger is doing the pressing.

Partisan politics will continue to fight opposing viewpoints tooth and nail; this one is a screaming match no one wins and everyone walks away from with a headache.

And to top it off, foreign governments want in on the fun with their fake ads and posts.

You can’t blame some people for not wanting to hear about free speech anymore. The noise surrounding it is overwhelming…and the dissonance is flat-out deafening.

But look…

…if we can go to the moon, provide global disaster relief, come up with the polio vaccine, create the internet, crush Hitler, foster diversity, welcome immigrants, and build John Deere tractors…

…I still believe we can do anything as a nation.

We can even keep free speech alive.

And us writers can do our part; we can write…

…the next Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Silent Spring, Unsafe at Any Speed, Walden, The Grapes of Wrath…

…or maybe we can just come up with well-thought-out essays that nudge the needle toward a little brighter future for us all.

Don’t doubt for a second your ability to make a difference, even if you’re not Harriet Beecher Stowe.

The written word, protected by our First Amendment, is still one of the most potent catalysts for change in America.

Photo by Chris Hardy on Unsplash.