When the military regime in Myanmar hiked fuel prices to astronomical heights in late August, the country’s people took their problems with the regime to the streets – literally. Most of their citizens rely on public transportation so the rise in fuel prices raised their price of transportation. The protests however, were also ignited because of long-standing opposition against the military “junta” and the mistreatment of Buddhist monks, according to CNN. The junta’s violent reaction to the peaceful protests with violence caused many Americans to say, “I’m so glad that can’t happen here.” We shouldn’t be so confident that our First Amendment rights are being protected. If we do not utilize our rights, we may not realize they have been slowly phased out until it’s too late.
The people of Myanmar started protesting peacefully against the regime over gas prices. We have been fighting high gas prices for years in the United States, but have you ever seen mass protests across this country over these prices? When the Buddhist monks got involved in the protests, it quickly evolved into “protests against 45 years of military dictatorship,” according to The Associated Press. So what happened when the junta didn’t like what the Myanmar people were saying to them and the rest of the world? They reacted with violence – killing their citizens and forcing them and the monks off the streets – and they cut off Internet access in the country.
The junta has used censorship to keep the world from knowing what happens in their country since the 1988 political uprising in Myanmar. “Reporters Without Borders rates Myanmar 164 out of 168 in a tally of the most repressed media in the world … The censors have the power to control everything and restrict the power of journalists,” Vincent Brossel, spokesman for the Asian branch of Reporters Without Borders told CNN.
It may be considered extreme to compare the situation in Myanmar to the U.S., but there have been some troubling trends in our country in recent years. It seems everyone from local leaders to the federal government have had a difficult time differentiating between unacceptable speech and free speech. Just because something that is said is offensive to one person does not mean it should be censored. For example, a news station in Nashville, Tenn., reported that a group of students in Smyrna, Tenn., were not allowed to wear “Free the Jena 6” T-shirts inside their high school Sept. 20. A spokesperson for the school district said the T-shirts were treated as a dress code violation because “it could have caused disruptions.”
Unless it says somewhere in the school’s dress code that students cannot wear clothing with political slogans because it “can cause disruptions,” school officials should have allowed the students to wear their T-shirts. Even if there is somewhere in the code that prohibits students from expressing their opinions on their clothing, precedence in the federal court dictates the school’s dress code would be unconstitutional. Our federal courts fortunately have a history of being supportive of First Amendment rights in schools, and it is important for our courts to continue supporting the rights granted to us by our forefathers.
One of the most important aspects of our country that separates us from other nations is our Bill of Rights. It is difficult for a country to be democratic if there is no guarantee of rights. Unlike Myanmar’s citizens, we are guaranteed the right to free speech, the right to assemble peacefully and the right to practice any religion freely. Had the protests in Myanmar happened in the United States, it would have been protected under the Constitution. These rights are what keeps our government in check. The junta in Myanmar is fully aware that if they allow uncensored news out of the country, it could have negative implications for them. “It is a reality of globalization. Whether the junta likes it or not, the government cannot isolate itself from the international community,” said Sein Win, the managing editor for Mizzima News, to CNN.
The people of Myanmar are an important reminder to the people of America. If you see an injustice, do not be passive, as many of us tend to be. Our country was founded by men and women who stood up for their rights. Many of us who are of Cajun heritage have ancestors who were forced from their homes and brought here to Louisiana because they stood up for what they believed in. They risked everything for their beliefs. We are doing them an injustice if we do not also stand up for what is right.
—-Contact Laura Bratcher at [email protected]