“Silencing Expression”
Our founding fathers believed in the power of ideas and debate, not censorship. That is why the first amendment was created to guarantee us four freedoms: the freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly. “For as long as the first amendment has protected our right to freedom of speech and expression, elements have tried to undermine that right” (Rosen RIIA.com). Music is a way for people to express themselves. Should this way of expression be restricted? I believe it should not be. For people should be able to express what ever they want with certain circumstances through music. Topics such as racism, rape, or domestic violence should not be sung about. I as an individual would not purchase CDs that address these topics, but everyone has there own musical preference. Even though if this music is harsh it should not be censored for these things happen in reality. Musical Content in certain songs do not lead to violent acts, certain bills should not be passed to ban certain CDs, and parental advisory stickers do not protect kids from explicit lyrics. Unfortunately some parents and government think differently about these issues. Restricting music and freedom of speech is wrong because it is senseless to restrict expression
Recently a bill was proposed that would ban the sales of violent music and video games to teens, by placing a warning label, a parental advisory sticker, on them. Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello states that, “ the practice of stores restricting sales of stickered products literally keeps music away from kids who want to hear it”(Desroisers30). That is why I disagree with restriction and banning of certain CDs and believe that it is not necessary to ban these CDs to teens just because it may have explicit lyrics. Many record sales are brought into record companies by teens. An example of warning labels on CDs is the controversial Eminem Marshal Mathers LP. Many people have objected to his lyrics but all he has to say is “ people criticize me for my lyrics and subject I rap about, but they haven’t lived my life”(Paker114). No one has the right to restrict Eminem’s right to express the feelings and stories in his songs. Although his lyrics are about hate and killing, these stories he shares about his life are true things in this world. Restricting music is just like neglecting aspects of life, and that is something you cannot ignore and hope it will go away. Negative aspects need to be exposed so we may solve them. “Our challenge then and now is recognizing that music is a reflection, not a cause, it doesn’t create the problems our society faces, it forces us to confront them”(RosenRIAA.com). That is why restrictions on music will not solve any problems about violence it is up to parents to teach kids what is right. Although restricting music is not a big issue to some people, it is just a small step perhaps for the government to slowly take away our rights to express ourselves. I do not think that will happen, but it also breaks the first amendment la
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Approximate Word count = 1209
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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