The band U2 has a song out called “American Obituary.” The song contains an anti-ICE message and has sympathetic lyrics about Renee Good. This song came out a few weeks after Bruce Springsteen released “Streets of Minneapolis,” another song written to protest what happened in Minneapolis. These songs are protected by freedom of speech. I have seen people on the right complain that these songs are anti-American. To me, they are not anti-American but they are against people being treated wrong in America. The ability to write such songs is very American, even if one was written by a band from Ireland. Being able to criticize the country or its policies is part of what freedom of speech is all about, and it is one of the things that actually defines this country. I have also seen the argument that neither the band nor Springsteen wrote a song about Laken Riley, who was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra in 2024. Ibarra entered the country illegally. While that was a real tragedy, arguments like this usually make zero sense to me. This argument is basically saying something is not wrong because something worse has happened. There can be levels of wrong, but wrong is still wrong. A tragedy does not cancel out another tragedy just because they involve different circumstances or different political views. No one is saying that a song can’t be written about Laken Riley anyone is free to do so if they feel they want to write it. That is exactly how freedom of speech works. But you can’t argue that someone shouldn’t use their freedom of speech just because the topic they chose is not the one you wanted them to speak on. There is no part of freedom of speech that says this right has to be used on every issue equally or in a way that satisfies everyone. Artists write about what moves them, what they see as injustice, and what they believe needs attention.
