By Jesse Darwin
George Washington once said, “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
And I believe that on January 7th, 2015, the diplomatic immunity held by each and every free citizen of the world was tested under fire and brimstone. With the death of the 12 Charlie Hebdo writers, many people have subjected themselves to a life distressed by fear.
Now, a week after the deaths, Charlie Hebdo employees have taken a powerful stance against the Jihadists and their obtrusive attack on the freedom of speech. To impose their beliefs on others and punish rulebreakers with death definitely has had some finite consequences.
While the slaughter occured in Paris, France, the affects echoed all the way to the United States. However, Islamophobia as a pre-existing prejudice will only grow with each extremist attack on innocent people. Around 48% of all Muslims have experienced some sort of
religious prejudice in America since 2009, and it is only logical to believe that with the Charlie Hebdo and ISIS attacks that life as a Muslim person will only worsen each year.
At the same time, a mutual fear exists between Islam and other religions; moreover, people ignorantly have stereotyped each side into absolute biased monotony.
Teenagers sometimes believe that we can stand as a new generation to solve each social stigma with love and acceptance; however, each individual approach to taking down the problems at hand differentiates so much that the whole situation has become misconstrued.
In the end, the people need to have their voices heard loudly and clearly, and the only way to move past the corrupt media is to speak boldly and to face the problem head on.
To have confidence in the face of an adversary such as the employees of Charlie Hebdo have in wake of the deaths of their fellow co-workers and friends stands as a monumental moment in the last few years.
They have taken a stand to protect freedom of speech for everyone, and to bear forward and hope for the best.
