Is Toni Smith right or wrong?:
Toni Smith, a college senior who is standing alone in a protest against the United States, has caused quite an uproar. Many people are commending her for standing up for what she believes in. Many people are asking she be attached to some of the bombs we are sending to the Middle East. And many people feel the way I do.
Miss Smith is turning her back on everything that makes this country great. She might be upset with one president’s decision to go to war, but is forgetting several reasons why all of our president’s have made this the best place in the world. She is forgetting that the same country she is upset with for “the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer,” is the same country that gave her the opportunity to play basketball in college. And what might be the worst of it all, is that her Division III school is only a 30 minute drive to Ground Zero. All that being said, she absolutely has the right to do what she is doing.
Miss Smith might be a little misguided in my opinion, but the United States stands for a great deal. The flag represents what this country stands for. And Miss Smith is using her first amendment rights to voice her opinion. As long as she keeps it a silent protest and only gives interviews to discuss her beliefs, there is nothing anyone should do to try and stop her. Our country must allow for Miss Smith or anybody else to go against the norm and tell people why they are against it. I don’t agree with her. But that doesn’t mean that she shouldn’t do it.
When Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in 1968 during the Olympic Games in Mexico City, they were banned from the Olympic Village for the remainder of the games and suspended from the U.S. national team. They were labeled by many as “a disgrace to America for speaking out against injustice.”
What Smith and Carlos did 35 years ago was a very courageous and bold statement that did come with a lot of risk at the time. However, they should have been commended for going against the norm and speaking out to injustice. Miss Smith is doing the same thing three decades later. People have the right to hate what she is doing. But if people want this country to remain with the freedoms it allows, it will let her do it. That is what makes this country what it is. A great nation with people willing to stand up for what they feel is right. Tommie Smith went against the norm and has survived. Miss Smith should be given the chance to avoid the “disgrace” Mr. Smith was labeled.