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The Pursuit of Being Trash, with the Confederate Flag


Racial tensions have been high in the United States for awhile now, and in some areas, very similar to how they were during the 1960's Civil Rights movement. As a result, many problems have been exposed. Most recently, there was the horrible slaughtering of nine innocent churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. This was without a doubt a horrible, racially motivated event that blatantly showed once again how far America has to go to completely eradicate racism. Not only did this show how racism is still thriving in our country, it also sparked a debate over one of this country’s most racist symbols ever made: the Confederate flag. Everyone is arguing over the flag, but what is the actual argument?

Right now, the Confederate flag is flying over the South Carolina capitol building and is currently apart of many states’ flags. Even though the Confederate States of America dissolved almost 150 years ago, they still felt the need to fly the flag. There are states that do not wave the flag but some, like Mississippi, have the flag in their state flag. Numerous people say that the flag should not be flown over the capitol nor over any government building, and some people say that the flag should be banned entirely. This might sound a bit ridiculous to most conservatives, but there are sound arguments for this. One would have to be incredibly ignorant to deny the fact that the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism. The Confederacy was founded on the idea that Black people were inferior to White people, and the South’s desire to keep their slaves. This is evident in this passage of the Corner Stone speech, in which the Confederate States of America laid out what their country was founded upon:

"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."-"Corner Stone Speech"
Fun Fact: This is an exact replica of the third choice for the Confederate flag's design.**
Further evidence of the Confederate flag being a symbol of racism can be found across the pond in Europe. Since the swastika is banned in Europe, neo-Nazis use the Confederate flag to represent their cause at their gatherings of hatred. They didn’t just choose a random flag to represent them. Why can’t neo-Nazis wave around a flag with a giant Corgi on it to show their hatred? While it may look absolutely adorable, Corgis are not widely known for their racism and bigotry. Neo-Nazis use the Confederate flag quite simply because everyone knows it represents racism and white supremacy. They know that they will offend every person of color (POC), and let them all know how they think.

Many white conservatives, and the single black guy Fox finds to agree with them, don’t think that the Confederate flag should be taken down simply because it’s offensive. In this sense they are regarding the flag as offensive as if someone were to say the “f-word” on television, or offensive as in someone's opinion disagreeing with someone else's. I can guarantee you that the Confederate flag is far more offensive to any POC. To myself and basically every other POC, waving the flag symbolizes how one agrees with the idea that black people and other people of color are inferior to white people. Supporting the flag supports the idea that we can be treated as subhuman or even as animals. Yes not everybody who waves a Confederate flag has this ideology, but many still do and it is impossible to disassociate this from the flag. If somebody wanted a swastika put up in the library because they thought it had a cool looking square design, they would be looked at as insane. Why can’t we do the same with the Confederate flag?

Almost everyone agrees that the Confederate flag is a horrible symbol of racism and bigotry, but there are still large groups of people who still want it to be flown at the South Carolina capitol. They do not see how it is a racist symbol, and I have to agree with them here; I can’t see much of anything without my glasses on. Despite my less than 20/20 vision and need for corrective lenses, there are surprisingly sound arguments defending the Confederate flag. The Civil War was one of the deadliest wars for America, since it was technically Americans killing Americans. Many people had ancestors fighting on both sides: North and South. Many on the South were fighting to keep their slaves, but many were also fighting to stay loyal to what they considered to be their country. To some people in the South, they wave the Confederate flag to honor their ancestors that died in the Civil War. You cannot take this away from them. Even if it is a rebel flag, they have the right to wave it. We also can't take it out of museums, because we have to remember this dark part of American history so this will never happen again. But the real question is, does the government have the right?

The Bill of Rights and the rest of the constitution guarantee and protect our rights as American citizens and depending on your age, the Rights of a Child. If you are an American citizen, you have the right to freedom of speech and this covers your right to wave the Confederate flag on your own private property. For example, if I want to put a banner on my garage saying “Ted Cruz is a dumb-ass.” I have the right to do so. You can’t take away my thoughts on Ted Cruz, nor the rest of the Republican candidates. You can’t take away the Confederate flag from the American people. You can, however, “take it away” from the government.

In this discussion on the waving of the Confederate flag many people claim their First Amendment right to freedom of speech, which is a sound argument. The government can’t tell people what not to say or express. This is why we can not ban the Confederate flag, since that would be a form of censorship. We can, however, get the government to take it down from their own property. To paraphrase what Andrew Napolitano brought to light during his interview on The Daily Show, the government is not a person. The government is a bureaucratic body that governs over the American people to ensure order and safety. Since the government is not a person, the government does not have the right to an opinion. If the government was allowed to have opinions, they would have the power and means to censor out any opposing opinions. This would go against the First Amendment, and impede upon our rights. Waving the Confederate flag on public, government property is expressing an opinion. This flag has no need being flown on government property, since it represents a rebelling country from a century and a half ago.

The Confederate States of America dissolved and rejoined the United States a very long time ago. Anybody with a normal functioning brain would think, “Well they’re no longer a country anymore, so maybe they should take down that rebel flag.” Sadly, Congress and the Senate is filled with many people that do not have normal functioning brains. Before you scream at me, the Confederate flag is most definitely a rebel flag. It represents the states that REBELLED against emancipating slaves by leaving the United States. When we (USA) declared our independence from England 239 years ago, we didn’t keep waving the Union Jack. If you saw the United Kingdom’s flag underneath the American flag at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, you would think that’s pretty weird. So why is the Confederate flag still up?


In the end, we are between a rock and a hard spot. Not because there is no answer about this situation, since we all now that the flag should be taken down from government buildings, public property, and most importantly the South Carolina capitol building. Bree Newsome, America’s most recent hero, did take it upon herself and a group of 8 others to take down the flag. For this, we are eternally grateful. You are our heroes. The flag was quickly put up again, however, and that needs to be stopped. There is no reason for the South Carolina legislature to have to discuss when to meet to discuss taking down the flag. That is just bureaucratic bullshit. That flag needs to come down, now. All y’all who have the flag waving in your own homes, and on General Lee, you keep doing what you do. No one can, nor should, stop you from honoring your heritage or whatever other reason you have for having the flag. Just don’t be surprised when someone thinks that your flag is racist. As it says in the Constitution we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of being trash.* Happy Independence day America. Stay forever ridiculous.

*It does not say this in the Constitution. Being trash can refer to having your own personal Confederate flag, eating Cinnabon, reading People magazine, owning jorts, or anything else trashy.

**This was not the third choice for the Confederate flag's design.

Disclaimer: Tyler does indeed happily eat Cinnabon and own jorts. You can pry his jorts from his cold, dead, frosting encrusted legs.

Credits: Corner Stone speech, Corgi flagConfederate flag over Columbia, South CarolinaJon Stewart and Andrew Napolitano on the Confederate flag


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