According to the Oxford Dictionary, censorship is “the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security,” indicating that censorship is more of a tool to protect societies from inappropriate topics. However Nancy Day gives a more contextual definition in her book Censorship: Or Freedom of Expression? (Pro/Con): “Censorship occurs when the government, special interest groups, or private individuals impose their moral or political values on others by suppressing words, images, or ideas that they find objectionable.” There is always going to be music that many in society believe is violent and inappropriate or politically controversial. Some people and government organizations think that music should be more restricted to protect society from these themes; however, others believe that it should not be as restricted due to the First Amendment, which states that people have a freedom of expression. Throughout the 1990s, several forces such as the Federal Communications Commission, the biases of the president, and the views of media outlets limited free express in music; these organizations redacted songs with important themes such as racial violence and political current events, preventing Americans from hearing various expressions of opinions, instilling ignorance amongst Americans about these topics, and ultimately hindering them from taking action.
Music is a form of art and therefore, it is considered freedom of expression or speech. Songs with themes of political controversy and racial violence bring awareness to social issues in America, and restricting those messages will cause ignorance and uneducated-ness in society. Organizations and forces such as the Federal Communications Commission, presidential biases and media outlets censored songs that talk about racial violence, and political current events throughout the 1900s, which shielded Americans from pluralist views and caused them to be ignorant towards these topics. Not only is it important for these organizations to stop contributing to the censorship of certain songs that bring up themes of racial violence and political controversy or opposition because they should adhere to the First Amendment right, but also because music and songs can be a useful tool to reach and educate people about certain current events in America. It is especially necessary to bring up the topic of censorship now because of the current presidential administration and their attempts to censor people from speaking their thoughts and opinions. It may not be affecting music at the moment, but online resources such as web pages and data sets are being taken down, which is infringing upon the First Amendment and the freedom of expression. “People don’t understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it,” Billie Holiday says. The government may not understand, prejudiced people in society may not understand; but without the fight, many voices would be silenced. Music would lose its power, its purpose, and its impact, which is why it is incredibly important to ensure that artists are not censored.
