Preview

The Pros And Cons Of Flag Burning

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
728 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Pros And Cons Of Flag Burning
Fifty one white stars, thirteen red and white stripes should not be near the line of fire. Since the 1960’s, burning the flag has been protected under the First Amendment. Many attempts throughout the years have been made to overrule that decision.(Garbus Martin) In 1968, the Federal Flag Desecration Law was enacted. It prohibited any action of “contempt” against the flag. (Flag Burning and Desecration) Many Americans sacrifice their lives to keep our American Flag flying. Although many believe burning the American Flag is okay, it should be illegal.

Some people believe that burning the flag as protest is okay, but it should be banned. In 1989, Gregory Lee Johnson burned the American Flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan at the Republican National Convention center in Dallas, Texas. (Flag Burning should be banned) Johnson was arrested and charged with violating a Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object, the American Flag. (Johnson Flag Burning) A court in Texas tried and convicted Johnson. He appealed, arguing that his actions were “free speech” protected by the First Amendment. (Patrick Brady) The Supreme Court agreed to hear his case. March
…show more content…
When discussing freedom of speech, burning of the flag is not illegal under the US Constitution. Everyone in the United States is guaranteed the freedom of speech. Everyone is entitled to their own outlook and opinion. Our enemies burn our American flag. The American flag is a symbol of our country. It is a symbol that flies proudly in people's’ front yard. It’s a symbol that many Americans grew up saying the Pledge of Allegiance to. It’s a symbol that Americans stand up for a sporting events, with our hands over our hearts, ball caps off, staying silent as the National Anthem plays. The American flag symbolizes freedom in this country. Overall, burning the Flag should be banned because it is a symbol of our

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Case Study Assignment

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A. Statute 42.09(a) (3) of the Texas Penal Code prohibits the “desecration of a venerable object.” This in lemans terms prohibits the burning of flags.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Defenders of the confederate flag claim that it represents "heritage, not hate." How can any good come out f a flag that has caused an immense negative impact? the confederate flag represents a split in our nation and symbolizes discrimination, therefore it should be banned. Continuing, the flag has also caused violence and inequality.…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One reason is that banning the burning of the flag would be a violation of our freedom of speech. Gregory Lee Johnson set fire to the US flag and was arrested. He was convicted under a Texas law that classified the flag as a "venerated object that permits criminal prosecution…

    • 1261 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The article talks about how the Supreme Court based a law by a 5-to-4 that a person can show their disagreement with the governmental policies by burning the American flag. It gives a vivid example of the other side of the law in china where people who peacefully express disagreement with the government policies may be slaughtered. Allen goes on to talk about how American flag is a cherished symbol of our nation. Allen also talks about how this is technically abiding by the First Amendment, It is the freedom of the people to express there freedom of expression of speech. He thinks that it is just an ironic situation because of the fundamental commitment to freedom.…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wanting to keep the flag around for heritage reasons in museums and places that preserve past flags is completely okay. Whenever it comes to wearing the flag or flying it on important buildings under the American flag is where it becomes inappropriate. Coski (2005) states that in the 1980s the NAACP tried to rally or annul the use of the Confederate Beauregard Battle Flag in states and emblems. Coski shares my current opinion that Southern states should not banish the Beauregard Battle Flag but yet try to understand that its role and meaning are different for different groups of people. The flag should just be retired to museums.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The battle in the courts of people desecrating the American flag, goes back to 1907. Showing disrespect toward our Nation's flag is intolerable. People have freedom of speech, but do not need to show their opinion through burning the American flag. Burning the flag is offensive to many U.S citizens and is disrespectful to our nation because the American flag is a symbol of freedom.…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A century and a half ago, our nation faced a civil war. More than 620,000 Americans lost their lives at the hands of other Americans, which was subsequently equal to the total number of American deaths in all other wars combined (O’keefe). The reason for this senseless war, the Confederate States of the South wanted to keep African Americans enslaved. As Southerners fought and killed to defend slavery, they did so under the confederate flag, which consisted of the colors red, white, and blue. Terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and many other white supremacist groups, led hanise crimes against African Americans which included: lynching, burning crosses, and mass murders, while using the Confederate Flag as a symbol of “unity”. A flag that stands for hatred and white supremacy is not only allowed but glorified. The confederate emblem should, not only be taken out of the Mississippi state flag, but the confederate flag should be banned from the United States.…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In today’s society, the first amendment is taken advantage of in many ways. Many people express that they can say whatever they please because they have the Freedom of Speech. They might burn the USA flag, make a racist remark, or some other kind of action, but what they do not realize is that this may hurt people. The First Amendment should be limited so that individuals can speak their mind so long as it does not hurt other people, or violates their rights.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Does freedom of speech still protect you today? In 1988, the case Texas v. Johnson, a protester named Gregory Johnson, grabbed an American flag and drenched it in kerosene, then proceeded to light it on fire. Desecrating the flag was illegal in Texas, so he was convicted one year in prison for this. This made Johnson and others argue that what he did was his right, due to freedom of speech, it was a political message, and it was legal to burn the flag in other cities. Johnson was justified in burning the flag because of his freedom of speech.…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why do people burn the flag? The issue of freedom of speech is people are abusing the freedom of speech. This issue is important because some people are burning the american flag. Also after school officials banned civil rights groups from recruiting on campus. Students at the University of California organized sit ins, rallies, and strikes. People who were involved were students from Berkeley named, Mario Savio, and Bettina Apthecker. The common good of people should respect it because they US gave us that privilege of speech. We owe our government the respect because they are the ones who gave us the right.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people are not taught to recognize the confederate battle flag in ambiguous ways such as structure. Instead, we are taught to recognized the stars and bars. The flag that was last decided by the confederacy was the same structure as the flag now. People may ask “why is this a problem if we’ve been doing this before?” well, the problem is the 3rd state flag didn’t offend anyone or tarnish our wonderful state, but we Georgians went and changed the flag back to what we believe is displaying pride for our history. This flag is actually displaying again ignorance and…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first amendment clearly states that congress shall not make any law abridging the freedom of speech. If our government isn’t going to avid by the amendments, then why have them? If they are going to ban the confederate flag then they should be banned for not corresponding with our god given rights. The constitutional amendments are what our government is supposed to stick to.…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Confederate Flag Essay

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why would you want to ban a symbol of our freedom that thousands of men and women have risked their life for over the many years of war? The Confederate Flag has been a symbol of our freedom for over hundreds of years. It is merely been a part of our history, something we were raised on, something we fought for.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Confederate Flag

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The whole reason everyone is saying the Confederate Flag is a symbol of hate or racism is because one white man went to an all-black church and shot some people and stood over them with the flag. Now everyone is saying it needs to be banned from every store and illegal to have one. Stores were…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The American Flag stands today to show that the wonderful place we call America, is forever united and will stand strong till we are all no more. Foreigners come to visit our nation and notice that, we Americans are full of purity, innocence, honor and peace, which the 6 white stripes on our flag imply. Also, we are all full of power, strength, bravery and endurance because we don’t allow anyone or anything to tear our nation apart. We will forever stand as one in a blue field of justice, fairness and right.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays