Addison Palmer and Eve Brandt, Bristol School
Third place, Wisconsin Civics Games Middle School Editorial Writing Contest
Dear editor,
The First Amendment states, “The government may not set an official state religion. It also may not keep people from having freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government to fix problems.” In this, we acknowledge that we are allowed freedom of speech, but what is the difference between freedom of speech and hate speech?
In our personal experience, we have seen many people utter hateful statements and get away with it. While we do agree with the concept of having freedom of speech, if people are abusing this power to say racist statements against others, something needs to change.
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“You should be picking cotton.” This is something that a kid at our school has said to a black female. That’s one of the many things that she hears on the daily. Imagine walking through the halls and thinking about nothing but what people might be saying about you. Think about that… every day.
So yes, freedom of speech is a great thing that is allowing us to say this now, but if we can’t separate hate speech from freedom of speech, the fire is going to spread.
Sincerely,
Addison Palmer and Evelyn Brandt
