The United States and Confederaflag are both symbols of slavery...

My opponent suggests that the US will Always be the melting pot. A brief examination of the country's origins easily disproves this assertion. The creators of the Constitution both owned slaves and subjugated women when the document was created. The document considers all men to be created equal while peculiarly omitting or avoiding the fact that they supported slavery and owned slaves. In fact, these slaves were considered to be 3/5 of human beings at the time. As we know, these slaves and women were not given the same unalienable rights at the time of the signing of the Constitution. The gov't did not fully support the ideology of unalienable rights for women and 'non-white' members of society until 1920 and 1870 respectively. With that being said, jim crow and various other dubious practices such as gerrymandering kept and keep many melaninated peoples in the U. S. from exercising their right to vote. The dehumanizing portrayal of chattel slaves in the United States still taints the perception of a large number of people in the U. S. in regards to their view of melaninated peoples. To be clear, race is a false social construct that was and is used to foster the class conscious agenda that supports the wealthy elite's plan for population control. As such, racism keeps the masses divided and arguing over trivial stereotypes and illusions. It is my opponent's form of revisionist history that retards any progress that can be made toward healing wounds from the past. My opponent states that " In no way can the Union be held accountable for what occurred under the confederacy. " I would agree. My declaration clearly asserts that both the United States and Confederate flags (excuse the typo) are symbols of slavery. My opponent also acknowledges that the Emancipation Proclamation only sought to free slaves in the Confederacy, however, he errs in his assertion that Lincoln was in favor of abolition. As quoted in the article "5 Things You May Not Know About Lincoln, Slavery and Emancipation" by Sarah Pruitt Lincoln made his position clear. “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races,” he began, going on to say that he opposed blacks having the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and to intermarry with whites. What he did believe was that, like all men, blacks had the right to improve their condition in society and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. In this way they were equal to white men, and for this reason slavery was inherently unjust. [1] This illustrates how Lincoln put limits on the freedoms and their 'unalienable rights'. In fact, Lincoln could be viewed as a separatist. He once stated, "Given the “differences” between the two races and the hostile attitudes of whites towards blacks. .. it would be “better for us both, therefore, to be separated. ” [1]In fact, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as more of a military maneuver than a moral stance. The Emancipation did not truly free any slaves. ". .. the US has every right to pass judgement on the disgusting organization that was the Confederacy. "Again, I must disagree. On what grounds does the US stand and pass judgment? Were (and some would argue are) social, industrial, religious, educational, and governmental institutions segregated and biased in the US as they were in the Confederacy. Are and were melaninated and indigenous people racially profiled, harassed, lynched, marginalized and outright murdered (i. e. Tamir Rice (12), Michael Brown (18),Eric Garner (43), Trayvon Martin (17). .. to name a few [2]) by citizens and officers in the US as they were by citizens and overseers in the Confederacy? Sadly, we all know the answers to these questions is a resounding yes! To this very day the United States has yet to truly deal with its history of racist practices, the accumulation of wealth derived from free labor, or its current racist paradigm. I challenge my opponent to dispute the existence of institutional racism presently practiced in the U. S. . "Dylann Roof, the murderer convicted of the Charleston shooting was seen not only burning the US flag. .. posing with a car with confederate plates. .. posing with the confederate flag. .. confederate ideology. .. played a role in his radical views in the name of which he committed this terrible and disgusting act. "Firstly, burning the US flag is protected by the Constitution. I do not profess to know what was in the mind of the accused murderer. It is clear, to me, that someone would have to be raised in hate to committ such a heinous act. Did the Confederate ideology play a part in forming the twisted and sordid psyche of the shooter? I would suppose it did. However to isolate that ideology as the reason for his tirade is a feeble attempt to ignore or avoid discussing the glaring reality of institutional and systemic racism that is prevalent in the United States. Roof is also alleged to have worn a jacket with badges that illustrate the flags of South Africa and Rhodesia during apartheid. As stated in the article "Dylann Roof shares apartheid's ideology" by Max Dupreez, "apartheid was an extremely violent ideology and state policy. It robbed millions of people over generations of their dignity; it tried to convince them and their children that they were inferior to whites; it destroyed their families and societal structures through forced removals, pass laws and migrant labour; it stole black people’s land and made sure they couldn’t take their rightful place in the economy. And when they protested, they were detained, tortured, sometimes killed. In short: at the heart of apartheid was the belief that a black life was worth less than a white life. Dylann Roof believes that too. "[3] Racism is a global virus that uses divide and conquer to maintain population control. The practices cited by Du Preez regarding apartheid can be ascribed to the Confederacy of the past and the United States of the present. "The flying of the confederate flag is not an attempt to distract the mass attention from the racist environment that currently exists in the US because it stands for the US' racist environment. "This statement seems to suggest that racism and racist practices were limited to the Confederacy or southern states. This is false. While racism has historically been more overt and prevalent in the South, the aforementioned incidents of racial violence prove that racism is a national disease in the current socio-political and economic paradigm in the U. S. . The confederate flag stands for racism and the confederacy. The confederate flag supports a racist organization. How on earth would that steer people away from these issues? "Again, it is not the flying of the Confederate flag, or indeed, its removal that steers people away from the existence and prevalence of racism that can be observed in the United States today. It is the attempt by the media, politicians, etc. to suggest that the Confederate flag or confederate ideology is the origin and source of the racist atmosphere that permeates throughout the United States. In other words, with or without the Confederate flag, the shooter and other racists would be able to find an ample supply of racist ideology to pollute and corrupt their pscyches and souls in the current atmosphere of the U. S. . Roof is alleged to have said "I wanted to kill 'black' people because they were taking 'our' jobs and raping 'our' women. Somehow, I find it hard to believe that when he said 'our' he was referring to the Confederacy. The news did not even mention racism in the first reports that were released. Once pressured to mention race, they used the Confederate angle as a means to make racism seem like a thing of the past. . http://www.history.com... [1]. http://gawker.com... [2]. http://www.news24.com... [3]