Resolved: The United States Federal Government should ban the Confederate Flag in all 50 states.

In this round I shall show that this flag should not be banned through a philosophical and political means. Contention 1: Unity and flagsThere's a great deal of contraversy in the flag regarding racism and other things. One key thing we have to look at is that of Unity. Paul Tillich has shown when writting about the symbol of flags he shown that it represents a group of people or an area as a whole. [1] In this it is representing the South as a whole. Though not the reigns of slavery and Secession, but the southern society and culture. It's banning will be an attempt to reduce and destroy the people of the South's very livelihood. For this instance let's take the State flag for instance. Why do states actually have flags? They have the nation's flag, but under this very train of thinking we should also get rid of state flags. So what do the State flags represent that the National flag does not? Culture. Each state, region, and area across the nation has different culture and histories than others. The culture in New England isn't the same as the South and California's not the same as Michigan. Each state has a different culture and the banning of the Confederate flag would do the same as an elimination from a state's flag. One can see that the culture is key to a nation as if one is to forget their history and culture then they are to be integrated into a system like sheep heading to the slaughter. [2] Examples of this can be seen in US history, after California revolted from Mexico it created the Bear Flag Republic. It still bears that flag today. Shall this flag be banned because of the fact that it offends Mexicans who they revolted against? The answer is a simple no. Even if they are offensive to some people these flags have historical and culture is their importance and the ability to fly them must not be infringed upon as it would be a trampling of their history and culture. This is something that many dystopian novelists have written about and they have all shown that once the symbol of unity and culture is destroyed then it would be easy to enslave a population. In order to prevent this we need to keep this flag. Contention 2: Free SpeachWhen one thinks of the Confederate Flag today when using the Liberal mindset they see it as offensive and even possibly hateful. Whether you believe it or not we have had a Supreme Court Case on this matter. Everyone here may not know who Fred Phelps is, but they do know his church, the Westboro Baptist Church. In the Supreme Court Case Synder V Phelps, Phelps was sued due to his protests attacking the military and homosexuals. The Supreme Court ruled an 8-1 favor of Phelps. Cheif Justice Roberts, a known Moderate, wrote this as the assenting statement, "What Westboro said, in the whole context of how and where it chose to say it, is entitled to 'special protection' under the First Amendment and that protection cannot be overcome by a jury finding that the picketing was outrageous. " [3] We can see here that the Supreme Court has ruled and protected the hate speech thatwas provided by the Phelps via their picketting. To relate the Flag back to the freedom of speech we have to look at the Supreme Court Case Texas V Johnson. Not only did they ruled for the case of Johnson being able to burn the flag through the first Amendment, but Justice Roberts wrote this, "Though symbols often are what we ourselves make of them, the flag is constant in expressing beliefs Americans share, beliefs in law and peace and that freedom which sustains the human spirit. The case here today forces recognition of the costs to which those beliefs commit us. It is poignant but fundamental that the flag protects those who hold it in contempt. " [4] Not only does this re-inforce my point in my last round it shows that doing so is protected by our Constitution and outlawing this flag would not only destroy culture and the very fabric of soceity, but it will erode away at our Constitutional rights making us slaves to our government. Sources1. (. http://people.uwec.edu...) 2. (. http://www.philstar.com...)3. Geidner, Chris (2011-03-02). "Supreme Court Upholds Westboro Baptist Church Members' Right to Picket Funerals". Metro Weekly. 4. (. https://casetext.com...)