Civic Rights & Cultural Expectations CITIZENSHIP CLASS SECTION _____

I am from Malawi. The Right I will discuss is Freedom of Speech. Jean Kaunda I am from Malawi. The Right I will discuss is Freedom of Speech. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

The United States of America In the United States, people have Freedom of Speech. If I want to say that I don’t like something here, I can say it. There is freedom to write what I believe and read the books and watch the news programs that I like. Sometimes the news criticizes the government, and in the United States, it is not a crime. Another right that people in the United States have is the right to assemble. In this way, citizens and immigrants can show what is important to them. If a person is arrested in the United States for their opinion, it is because they did not have a permit to have a demonstration, or they were not peaceful. Also people cannot use hate speech. Overall, there is freedom to express myself here in this country because of the First Amendment.

My Country In Malawi, we had a dictator until 1994 and we were not permitted to give our opinion. If a person said that the government did not follow the rules or obey the regulations, they would be arrested. I learned as a child to never criticize anything that the government did. I was afraid to say something was wrong or bad. Most of the people who said something about it got in trouble and the government did something bad to them after they were arrested. This happened to my uncle. We did not know where he was for 2 weeks. Some were killed for expressing their opinion or we don’t know what happened to them. So people did not say anything to the military or officials. There was no freedom of speech. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

To me, it is much better to live with freedom of speech To me, it is much better to live with freedom of speech. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution includes freedom of speech, religion, press, peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the U.S. Government. Even though I mostly wrote about freedom of speech, the First Amendment has the rights that I did not experience in Malawi. I still have difficulty writing an essay that criticizes any government policy or action because it makes me nervous about being arrested, but maybe I will do it some day. The End This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA