An Introduction to the Analysis of the American Values
American's have many different values they hold close to them. Some of these values are the amount of money they are making, their job status, their popularity in school and in other functions, and a good education.
The biggest value Americans have is the Freedom of Speech and the Press.
Order custom essay An Introduction to the Analysis of the American Values with free plagiarism report
450+ experts on 30 subjects
Starting from 3 hours delivery
The value we get from the freedom of speech and the press is enormous. It allows us to understand what is happening in the world and to share our feeling’s on certain subjects. This statement was tested in one court case about a student in a high school in Pine Forest, North Carolina in 1971. The students name was Charlie Quaterman, his crime was that he published an underground newspaper that he handed out in school. The school suspended him for ten days and had him on probation. He refused to let the school stop him from telling others what he and his classmates thoughts on things. In one of his papers he wrote
WE HAVE TO PREPARE TO FIGHT IN THE HALLS AND IN THE CLASSROOMS, OUT IN THE STREETS BECUASE THE SCHOOLS BELONG TO THE PEOPLE. IF WE HAVE TO-WE'LL BURN THE BUILDINGS OF OUR SCHOOLS DOWN TO SHOW THE PIGS THAT WE WANT AN EDUCATION THAT WONT BRAINWASH US INTO BEING RACIST. AND THAT WE WANT AN EDUCATION THAT WILL TEACH US THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW, SO WE CAN BETTER SERVE THE PEOPLE!!!! (Zerman, p.3).
He had challenged the school and the courts by what he said. He won his court case and showed people that the freedom of speech and the press is a privilege and a tool to value.
The freedom of speech and the press should at least have some limitations. That's what a poll taken in the 80's said. ...a majority believed that the public’s right to know is subordinate to an individual's right to privacy, that the harm certain information, were it be aired, would inflict on the subject far outweighs whatever benefit it might offer to the rest of us. (Zerman p.24). This is saying that if the news or papers get a hold of some juicy tidbits about something that would hurt either the persons status or their credibility, it should not be given out, only if the negative is more than the positive.
According to what George Hay once wrote, the idea of limiting the freedom of speech or the press is not right. He said If the words freedom of the press' have any meaning at all they mean total exemption from any law making any publication whatever criminal. (Zerman p.23). According to this, anything in the papers, the web, books, or in the news could never be censored or blocked from the public. This also means that people will not be able to take anyone to court because of what they wrote about them, even if it means they destroyed that person's life. This is taking the freedom of speech and the press to the extremes.
All in all the freedom of speech and the press is a value that all American's have, but many over look its power. Freedom of speech and the press is a powerful tool that should not be over used or underused. The first Amendment grants us the freedom of speech and the press, but we should not abuse it.
An Introduction to the Analysis of the American Values. (2023, Mar 16). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/an-introduction-to-the-analysis-of-the-american-values/Cite this Page
Run a free check or have your essay done for you
