When Johnson Burned The American Flag

It makes me proud when I see the American flag flying in the sky, makes us honor our heroes and sports stars, and it makes us remember the people who fought for the independence of our country. The flag flies tall and proud in so many places across America, the world, and even on the moon. Today, one hundred fifty million flags that are sold per year. The American flag brings together Americans as one united nation. “The American flag, Old Glory, standing tall and flying free over American soil for 228 years is the symbol of our beloved country. It is recognized from near and afar, and many lives have been lost defending

saying that desecration of the American flag is protected by the Constitution (The Editors of

The American flag has such a powerful meaning behind just being a flag. It represents how this democracy country started, and to all of what it has expanded to. Soldiers are trained to always protect this flag because behind the flag is every American citizen they are trained to protect. Texas argued that “the flag is a symbol of nationhood and national unity justice”.(cite) The flag caused such a heavy case because some people don’t considers the flag to be special. People can burn state flags, the presidential seals and even the constitution if they were able to get ahold of it. The racial group, KKK, is allowed to discriminate on the basis of race, causing outrage and defiant behavior, but they are not stopped because they are expressing free speech. The same thing Johnson was doing when he was burning the flag because to him to was expressing his speech in a symbolic way. Although Johnson was imprisoned for one year after burning the flag, flags are constantly being burnt by the armed forces. When a flag has become old and worn out they have a ceremony which eventually leads to the burning of the flag. A flag is still getting burned, but the problem is that one offends to many people. What would be free speech if no one disagrees with it? Texas second argument did not work because Johnson’s protest ran with the fact that not every has the same beliefs, making it hard to argue that the flag is

One reason the Confederate flag should not be able fly here in the United States is because that many take the flag as racist and that it promotes slavery. The flag mainly offends Northerners and African Americans. This is because they were against the idea of slavery during the Civil War. Studies show that when people see the Confederate flag, even a glimpse of it, they are

Pictures of the accused killer flooded television, social networks and newspapers. The displaying of the killer holding the confederate flag was displayed because of the killer’s hate for the black race. Nine people were killed in the shooting spree. The incident in my opinion was a demonic act because the killer sat and open fire while the congregation prayed. Sadly, only because of nine people dying because of racism, the flag was removed for several southern states. I am not sure if the banning of the flag would have avoided this incident because the people that were fighting to keep the flag displayed still showed lack of compassion and sympathy for this incident. I personally watched the removal and was overwhelm with emotion as the flag was march off South Carolina grounds. I thought of my great grandfather and uncle who was slain by white people in June 27, 1916 and July 7, 1916. http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/greene/newspapers/wilbla.txt

To begin it is important to note, that flag burning is and has been since the beginning, protected by the U.S Constitution. The Constitution is best known for its protection of freedom of speech, religion, and peaceful protest. With that in mind, would it not be contradicting the Constitution

In the year 2006, the Stolen Valor Act made it illegal to make medals of Honor. The case brought forth to us describes issues brought about by this act. In United States v. Fields, Abel Fields attended a meeting where he proclaimed that he had military experience, and that he earned a Purple Heart. He had made false statements, and in turn was convicted, and had to pay a $1,000 fine. Fields felt that his First Amendment rights had been violated. He appealed his case to the court of appeals. He argued that it was okay to falsify his claims, because he they were about him. He didn’t harm anyone in lying about himself. The court of appeals overturned his conviction because they thought the Stole Valor Act was unnecessary.

A lot of citizens want our country to have patriotic customs, they say that “We must restore our flag to its rightful place under the law so that our children and our grandchildren will never be confused about its meaning, its value, or the price paid to preserve it” (Wheeler). Most people agree that we should respect our flag, but this amendment is bigger than the flag, it is about upholding our First Amendment right even if that means disrespecting our sacred flag. Another argument that supports the amendment would be that people don’t think that flag burning is considered “speech” they argue that “what is said when the flag is burned?” (Brady). Although nothing is verbally said when burning a flag the message is “symbolic speech” and this can be backed up by Texas v Johnson (1989). In conclusion, although flag burning may be disrespectful this “symbolic speech” is allowed by the First Amendment and we should keep it this way instead of giving up a

Should the Confederate flag be banned on public property? The Confederate flag is one of the greatest controversial, provocative icons of American culture, and even has a significant presence out of the country. There is proof to suggest that just observing the Confederate flag makes a person act fairly more racist.

    When the American flag is distressed and unfit for formal display, it is appropriate to dispose of it in a manner of stateliness as said in the United States Flag Code. The most frequent and fitting method to doing away with the flag is burning it. This simple statement is very broad and is easily misinterpreted. The first amendment of the United States Constitution protects this traditional way of expressing respect to the Star Spangled Banner. Several citizens of the United States believe that desecration of the flag is qualified as a form of breach of peace. Many americans believe that burning the American flag is constitutionally proofed by the first amendment and is

While the document Texas v. Johnson has a formal tone, the article The American Flag Stands for Tolerance, is more colloquial. The word choice expresses this very well. The word choices such as “disagreement”, and “crucial

Ronald Reagan once said, “When we honor our flag we honor what we stand for as a Nation - freedom, equality, justice, and hope.” The Texas v. Johnson case is a vast problem that seems to be overpowering in today’s society. Since the case began there have been flag burnings all over the country, and no one seems to be concerned since people are not getting disciplined. People should not be burning the flag that so many people fight and lost their lives for. The burning of the American flag should not be protected by the First Amendment.

The issue of the confederate flag has been an important cultural discussion point for some years now, but has recently taken on even greater importance in light of recent hate crimes in South Carolina, as well as rampant police brutality and shootings across the country. Much of the discussion has been an argument between the two schools of thought being that either the flag is a symbol of cultural heritage and nothing more, and the other being that it is a symbol of systematic and violent racism that has no right being in a place of honor and reverence in today’s society. In a way both schools are correct. The Confederate flag is a symbol of southern cultural history; it also happens that that history is a history of systematic and violent racism, starting from the flag’s creation and on to its popular resurgence in the south at the time of desegregation and the civil-rights movement.

The law states that is freedom of speech to burn our American Flag, but how is stomping and burning the symbol of this nation where our freedom of speech should be. Most do it out of anger toward our country, but why do they have to take such drastic measures to show their anger. Wattad stated” grant the flag special respect.” ( 1, 2008) It's not saying take away freedom of speech just grant something that represents what our soldiers are fighting for special respect. So if someone would burn the American flag than they would be punished not given a warning and let go. However, even though it might make a grown man cry to see this it doesn’t even come close to how a soldier who have fought for this symbol must

"We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves." How does this relate to the stories we have read? We are going to look at "The Lottery", "Texas v. Johnson", and "American flag stands for tolerance". Also we are going to talk about the acceptance characters do or do not show in these stories. In the stories many characters show the acceptance of others and many do not show acceptance.