The Myths of American Freedom- What is Really Happening?

(Photo of Man with Mouth Sewn Shut)

Is he a writer, an investigative journalist? Is he an advocate against politics? Or is he an ordinary man with an opinion? The question of who this man is remains unanswered, but whether we know who this man is doesn’t matter. All those who witness this gruesome photograph know one thing: that he is being silenced. This concept of silencing others isn’t uncommon because every day people’s thoughts, ideas, and opinions are being shut down or censored. Why is our human right, written in the constitution, being ripped from our hands? Why is free press and free speech no longer “free?”

                Anne Applebaum writes in “The Decline of American Press Freedom,” that gradually press is being subdued under power of foreign groups, terrorists, and immigrants. It is not only “Islamic terrorists but authoritarian foreign governments and the companies aligned with them,” Applebaum states, that help with the oppression of truly free speech and press. From book publishers all the way to the television companies, and even to those walking the streets, this oppression reigns all through the fifty states (Applebaum 640). So you can see it here, in that photo of an ordinary man with his mouth sewn, that free speech is in fact a dying right to Americans. I find it disturbing that an artist would portray such violent and blunt meaning of the loss of free speech and press. Although true, it does indeed make me wonder how those who swear their careers on the constitution let these rights fade away into history. Is the constitution just a thing of the past along with Thomas Jefferson? I don’t believe it, but every day brings new evidence in the findings that freedom does not mean free speech and press any longer.

                The photo in and off itself proves that for years we have been censored. From my composition class, where the photo was shown with a warning of it being disturbing, to all art work and literature trying to pose as “sensitive” to its audience. I wonder why an artist cannot capture gruesome things like this, if it’s the truth. When it comes to being American- it should be free of chains and restriction, even if an audience has a different cultural understanding of the work. Since we are America, and we stand for free press and speech, when we reach out and advertise to other nations, we should not have to censor our preaching. If a Chinese official came to America, or an American official went to China, it is the American who tries to obey the cultural understanding of the Chinese. If that means that we must do as their culture would, we would try to conform to that. Americans shouldn’t have to fight for their words when we are protected by the constitution. No man’s lips should be sewn shut any longer.

Works Cited

Applebaum, Anne. "The Decline of American Press Freedom." Colobumo, Gary, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing Ninth Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 640. Book.