A group of white silhouettes are cast on a red and blue striped image with the elements of the First Amendment embedded in the stars. It doesn’t matter your political stance because our constitutional rights are a nonpartisan issue. We must continue to allow for a diversity of opinions and focus on embracing it rather than censoring each other. (Graphic Illustration by Sydney Tilles)
A group of white silhouettes are cast on a red and blue striped image with the elements of the First Amendment embedded in the stars. It doesn’t matter your political stance because our constitutional rights are a nonpartisan issue. We must continue to allow for a diversity of opinions and focus on embracing it rather than censoring each other. (Graphic Illustration by Sydney Tilles)
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Op-Ed: For once, stand together

By Sydney Tilles, Outreach Editor
October 7, 2025

I don’t care if you’re a hardcore Democrat, a raging Republican or anyone in between. 

It doesn’t matter to me whether we would be friends or enemies. 

All that matters in this moment is that we have the right to speak out. 

I don’t want to sound like a broken record and regurgitate all of the reasons I’m against the cancellation of the Stephen Colbert show and the suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” but I believe in freedom of speech, regardless of the contested opinion. I am here to say something I didn’t think I would have to: No matter what party people belong to, we need to stand together for our freedom of speech in the United States.

The First Amendment is our fundamental right, and it represents the values and principles of the United States (in theory). Theoretically, our country is supposed to be the symbol of freedom, liberty and prosperity; hence, the idea of the American Dream. The founding fathers fought to break free from tyranny, theocracy and suppression. 

The non-controlling party should not have its voice diminished because the people in control disagree. Silencing, censoring and threatening the opposition are common signs of an upcoming authoritarian regime. The Trump administration is a terrifyingly accurate representation of a fascist government: eliminating political opponents, suppressing minority opinions, exclusionary nationalism and expanding paramilitarism. 

All of the signs of an uprising dictatorship are there; we have seen dictators rise to power throughout history, with the same rubric we are seeing now. Yet, somehow this time is different because Trump is supposedly saving America? That’s the same ideology that Germans thought when Hitler was gaining power. Stalin believed he was saving Russia — and the same was true for Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Benito Mussolini in Italy and Francisco Franco in Spain, to name a few. Hindsight is 20/20; we can’t see the future, but we can use historical knowledge to help us make informed decisions so we don’t repeat past mistakes.

Trump fired Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer for reporting the labor statistics, which showed a sizable downward revision in jobs. He has also made false claims regarding crime, immigration, the economy and tariffs.

Oddly enough, during Charlie Kirk’s eulogy, Trump said “reason and open debate” is “the basis of our entire society” and the “inheritance of every free American.” While I find that statement deeply ironic and hypocritical, for those who do support Trump, his own words should serve as a compelling reason to defend free speech.

I can disagree with your opinions on politics, religion and ideology, but at the very least, we should be allowed to express that.

The constant degradation of the “other side” only further polarizes us. We’re so isolated in our personal echo chambers that we can’t see the “other side” as people; we literally refer to them as the “other side.” Communists to anarchists and everyone in between, people just want to live peacefully. The caveat is that different interpretations of peace are mutually exclusive. We’re all walking on vastly different paths in hopes of finding our ideal version of a peaceful society. 

But I’m a realist. So let me give a reality check: That’s never going to happen. 

If we lived in a society of only Democrats, we could disagree on economic issues. If we lived in a liberal society and agreed on economic structure, we could disagree on immigration or religion, social media usage, law enforcement, etc. No matter who is in charge we can always find something to disagree on.

I’m not here to be pessimistic or apathetic. I am here pleading with whoever is reading this to have realistic expectations of what we can do as a society. We all have individual dreams of what our society could look like if everything went our way. But if we find no common ground, we will never rise above where we are now, because we are so fractured. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in a chaotic, polarized and violent society.

I will never conform to appease anyone, and I acknowledge and respect everyone to do the same. There are countless issues on which the two parties disagree; however, both liberal and traditional conservative beliefs value individual liberty, including free speech. 

For one moment, can we all put our differences aside to unite on the one issue both parties agree on?

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