1 DB 7 Gates Two Live Crew

I would like to address the ludicrous idea of music censorship. When most of us thinks of censorship of any kind the first amendment comes to mind. Although many rights are valued in the U.S., the freedom of speech is highly regarded and greatly manipulated. The first amendment states, "Congress shall make no law representing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances." You may think that the censorship of music is prohibited based on the law of our constitution except it's not the government doing the censoring on it's own, it's special interest groups.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. mentions in his article “2 Live Crew, Decoded” (523).the outrage that was brought to our governments attention. There can be nothing worse than being misunderstood because of the use of slang. The group was being censored during their performances for being too provocative. Ultimately the federal government began to censor their music.(523-24) Scapegoat accusations made based on the influence of music, the objection of the artists, and the attempts to censor music simply relieves people from being held accountable for there own actions. Ozzy Ozbourne was sued by the parents of a 19-year-old boy who felt their son committed suicide after listening to Ozbourne's song "Suicide Solution". One of the most famous cases of music censorship, police in Dade County, Florida arrested three retailers for selling 2 Live Crew tapes to children under the age of 18 in