Blog #3: Protect Dissent

As informed American citizens, it is not only our right, but it is also our obligation to critique the government. This right is exercised through the First Amendment. 

The First Amendment establishes six clauses that aim to protect the people. These clauses grant them the freedom from AND of religion, speech, press, assembly, and government petition. The subject of dissent mainly applies to the clauses regarding speech and petition.

Protecting dissent is vital to the success of our democracy. Dissent allows us to publicly disagree with and oppose the government. Without this right, we would be unable to openly express our views, promote change, or suggest alternative ideas without consequence. 

International law has defined six legal principles to protect and promote the right to protest which include legality, precaution, necessity, proportionality, accountability, and non-discrimination. These principles were set in place to ensure the rights to protest and assembly.

Although these principles aim to uphold our rights, they aren’t fully reliable due to differences within state policies. That is why it is so crucial that we fight to defend dissent. 

Dissent allows the public to hold officials accountable for their words and actions. It gives us the opportunity to disagree, rather than to just blindly follow and accept all we are told. It gives us a voice.

This voice is essential to our way of life. This voice partakes in checks and balances. This voice promotes human rights. But, most importantly, this voice is our freedom, and it needs to be heard.

That is why protecting dissent is such an important topic in today’s climate. Our voices are being severely limited. One modern day example of this lies within the field of journalism. 

Many of the mainstream news sources we know today are being restricted by the government. Even though journalists are protected under the First Amendment, the government has still managed to find loopholes to influence their work. 

There have been numerous accounts in which the government has censored journalists and stifled their opinions in an attempt to protect their reputation. The government has been known to silence reporters, ban social media accounts, and bribe journalists to maintain their “good” standing. 

Civil disobedience and other related themes such as protesting typically have a negative connotation attached to them; however, they are protected under the First Amendment to a certain extent. When executed properly, these methods of reform can create major change. 

For example, dissent has been essential to the achievement of gender equity, women’s rights, and racial/ethnic oppression. These movements incorporated the use of protests and civil disobedience to reach their goals while still acting within their rights.   

One modern day example of dissent is the elementary school curriculum protests in California. Many California residents with children enrolled in public schools in the state have been protesting schools for including LGBTQIA+ information in the curriculum. There have been many districts where parents have publicly protested these new laws on school grounds. Without causing any harm or major disturbance, these parents have exercised their First Amendment rights to speech and petition by dissenting. 

In the words of Robert F. Kennedy, “For it is not enough to allow dissent. We must demand it. For there is much to dissent from.”