A few months ago, 15 men in pickup trucks drove by a birthday party for a young child in the suburbs of Atlanta with the Confederate Flag attached to their trucks. This past week, those same men were indicted by a grand jury on terror-related charges. All 15 members are also a part of an organization known as Respect the Flag with violating Georgia's Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and making terroristic threats. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison. Melissa Alford, the women who hosted the birthday party recounts the incident saying that the people holding the flags were also brandishing weapons. She also told a CNN affiliate WSB that "They used the N-word and said they were going to kill people on my property". Aside from the issue of the Confederate flag, it seems that these 15 people are just racist and the fact they consider the Confederate flag acceptable in the year 2015 is just absurd.
There are always two sides to a story, and some of the members told the Atlanta Constitution that someone at the party threw rocks at them, triggering the altercation. The group's leader, Levi Bush, who has been indicted, declined CNN's request for an interview. Other members of the group could not be reached for comment, and it was not clear whether they had legal representation. It is evident that these 15 men are too ignorant to actually acknowledge that they are in the wrong in this situation, and what person would drive by a birthday party trying to provoke hate and remind people of our countries unfortunate past.
The indictment alleges that the Respect the Flag organization is a criminal street gang, and that members of the group threatened to commit a crime of violence against people at the party, with the purpose of terrorizing those individuals and in reckless disregard for the risks of causing such terror. Although what occurred at the birthday party was extremely uncalled for, it is great to see that justice is being served, and hopefully these men do have to spend up to 10 years in prison.
Furthermore, yes South Carolina agreed not to raise the flag in their State Capital building and Congress in July even voted to ban the Confederate Flag from all cemeteries in the South, but there has not been an official ban on the Confederate flag yet.
Some questions after reading this article are:
Obviously this flag needs to be banned altogether, but with Republicans being so opposed and with no sign of them easing up, what is the best possible solution to ban the flag?
Does Congress have the right to ban the flag altogether? Is it constitutional to ban a flag?
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/14/us/douglasville-confederate-flag-terror-charges/index.html
6 comments:
Although I agree that these men are doing awful things, I do not think that it is Constitutional for Congress to ban the Confederate flag. Even though this flag obviously represents the worst era in our nation's history, and is somewhat rebellious towards the current American government, it is not something that the government has the power to ban. For instance, the court case Texas v. Johnson confronts a similar issue. Gregory Lee Johnson burned the American flag as part of a political demonstration, outraging many. He was then charged and convicted in the state of Texas for violating one of their laws. However, when taken to the Supreme Court, they ruled that his act of burning the flag was protected under the freedom of speech stated in the First Amendment. I believe that these men have the same right to freedom of speech, so they should be allowed to have Confederate flags, but the other acts they are doing are not acceptable. The U.S. government might not be able to ban the Confederate flag, but they should control gun use, violence, and threats of people like this group.
I agree with Brian on the issue because although I think the flag should be banned on moral grounds, technically it would be unconstitutional. Like Brian said they already proved in the Texas v. Johnson case that he had the constitutional right of free speech and that he could not be punished for burning the flag. However I disagree with Brian in the sense that it is possible for them to change gun laws but not laws on burning the flag because changing gun laws would go against the 2nd amendment which is the right to bare arms. It will be extremely difficult to ban the flag without the support of the Republican party. It doesn't have to be all of the Republicans in congress but as of now the majority of our central government is Republican so if some of those opinions shifted to the side of banning the flag then it would be possible. But as it stands I don't think there is anything we can do to ban the flag without the support of the Republicans. If it were up to me the flag would have been banned a long time ago, but it was our founding fathers who are impeding out progress in the fight to ban the flag. If the situation stays contained to minor events then it won't be too much of a problem. However the confederate flag has the potential to encourage more egregious actions.
Although it is evident that the waving of the confederate flag is distasteful and morally wrong, there is nothing unconstitutional about it. Freedom of speech protects those who continue to support and wave the confederate flag, no matter how socially unacceptable this act may be. Of course with enough support it is possible to make this act illegal. You would think with the views of our nation is constant with today regarding the confederate flag and the standards behind it, this issue would be unanimous, however, this is not the case. The issue of banning the flag and making it an illegal act to carry the flag would need Republican support in congress, which it does not have. Republicans make up a large percentage of our nation and our central government, so it is hard to implement issues in which the majority of republicans disagree with.
I agree with Brodi; if this issue was up to me the flag would have been made illegal long ago, but i believe that we should use this incident and focus on more flexible issues. The 15 men that were waving the confederate flag were also said to have been waving weapons, which i think is more concerning considering they were passing a children's birthday party. This is where gun laws and stricter limitations on who can own guns and under what circumstances should come into play.
The confederate flag, no matter how people defend it, represents racial injustice and is a morally wrong. Although there is nothing constitutionally wrong with it, it relays a racist and unjust body which we as US citizens should not represent. In areas used by the public I think we have to be extremely cautious about using the confederate flag, because many people who utilize public areas do not support what it stands for and do not want to be represented by such a flag. On an interesting note many universities still have ties to the confederate flag and the confederation. Rice University currently describes one of there colors as confederate gray. While Vanderbilt has a hall dedicated to the confederate solders as well as a scholarship for decedents of confederate solders. This must be put an end to. Programs like this demonstrate the ignorance of how past actions affect us today and how what we support characterizes us. Hopefully we can move forward and leave all of these ties in the past.
Without a doubt, I strongly believe that the confederate flag needs to be banned altogether. It represents a period in American history where the country was divided between the north and south. After decades of conflict between the different sections of our country, we stand as one. We should not promote or allow others to promote a period of American weakness. It is un-American to do so. Furthermore, California put into place a state law banning the Confederate flag display on public lands. Morgan mentioned that banning the flag violates freedom of speech, but residents of California may still display the flag if they wish to do so. I think is a great approach and other states should definitely follow suit. I agree with California's law as it prevents the confederacy from being displayed publicly, but if people still wish to wave it privately, they still have the power to do so. It frustrates me that the decision on whether or not to ban the Confederate flag is a problem today as the civil war occurred decades ago.
Without a doubt, I strongly believe that the confederate flag needs to be banned altogether. It represents a period in American history where the country was divided between the north and south. After decades of conflict between the different sections of our country, we stand as one. We should not promote or allow others to promote a period of American weakness. It is un-American to do so. Furthermore, California put into place a state law banning the Confederate flag display on public lands. Morgan mentioned that banning the flag violates freedom of speech, but residents of California may still display the flag if they wish to do so. I think is a great approach and other states should definitely follow suit. I agree with California's law as it prevents the confederacy from being displayed publicly, but if people still wish to wave it privately, they still have the power to do so. It frustrates me that the decision on whether or not to ban the Confederate flag is a problem today as the civil war occurred decades ago.
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