South Carolina Should Not Be Allowed To Fly A Confederate Flag

Thank you very much for accepting my challenge, I hope for this to be a stimulating debate. My Value in the case will be Morality. It is the moral duty of the leaders in a state government to ensure that all citizens are adequately respected by the government in the state. My Criterion for this is Offensive Material. In order to maintain their moral duty, the state government must be able to ensure that all citizens are adequately respected. This can only be achieved by removing anything that is state sponsored. Definitions offered to ensure clarity: Freedom of Speech: Is defined as the right held by American citizens to speak freely without fear of censorship. This means that Free speech cannot be argued in this case because a state is not considered to be a citizen. Symbolic Speech: Action through which speech is presumed Citizen: An individual member of a sovereign nation Contention 1: South Carolina cannot fly the Confederate Flag because it is a symbol of racism and discrimination. "In the Southern states that were once members of the self-declared Confederate States of America, and whose attempted secession set off the American Civil War, a certain revisionist view of that time is very popular today. It"s known as "The Lost Cause of the Confederacy," and its roots go back to the reconstruction period immediately following the South"s Civil War defeat. In its modern iteration, proud white Southerners imagine a humble, down-to-earth folk whose way of life and independence were threatened by an elitist and totalitarian Union government. Confederate troops fought bravely and skilfully but were steamrolled by sheer force of numbers. Indeed, it never was possible to win this fight, even with moral right on their side. Notice there"s no mention of the Confederacy"s god-given right to keep people as slaves. In this version of history, the "peculiar institution" wasn"t really what the war was about. But while it is true that Lincoln prioritized maintaining the Union over everything else, including ending slavery, for the South, at least, it was very much about slavery. On the eve of the war, Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens gave his now-famous "cornerstone speech", from which I"ll quote: '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'" This of course is significant to the argument because it shows that the Confederate Flag is a racist symbol and as I've already shown in my Value and Criterion denies the main purpose of a government, to uphold the rights of the people. If an individual was to wear a Confederate flag it is protected as symbolic speech; however, the government is the not an individual. Contention 2: The Confederate Flag is a flag of traitors against the United States, therefore it has no business being on a state capital. In his book, Tupelo, John Hill Aughey relates a sermon he preached, during that year, against Southern secession while at the "Poplar Creek Presbyterian church of Choctaw County, Mississippi. The nationalistic tenor of Aughey"s sermon is immediately apparent from the Scripture on which he had chosen to base his sermon, which just happened to be Romans 13:1. "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." Mr. Aughey begins his sermon with a feeble attempt to juxtapose the Southern talk of secession, due in large part to the May 1860 Morrill Tariff, which would raise the average tariff from about 15% to 37%, with Israel"s "idolatry" and rebellion against Judah after the death of King Solomon. The pastor then goes on to declare: "if we, as the ten tribes, resist the ordinance of God, (meaning, of course, the accepted dogma of Romans 13:1) we will perish. At this time many are advocating the course of the ten tribes. Secession is a word of frequent occurrence. It is openly advocated by many. Nullification and rebellion, secession and treason, are convertible terms, and no good citizen will mention them with approval." Furthermore Aughey accents his nationalism with these words: "Where do we obtain the right of secession? Clearly not from the word of God, which enjoins obedience to all that are in authority, to whom we must be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience"s sake." As if on cue pastor Aughey calls on his congregation to find the right of state secession in the Constitution of the United States and continues his remarks with this remarkable statement. "Henry Clay, the great statesman, Daniel Webster, the expounder of the constitution, General Jackson, George Washington, and a mighty host, whose names would fill a volume, regarded secession as treason." (Emphasis mine) It is unquestionably true that those named would regard secession as treason." This means that the Confederate flag is a sign of treason because the powers the Southern States attempted to use could not be adequately derived from any source. Now, this is significant because the secession of the Southern States should be a shameful time for all of them, but especially South Carolina, it should not be celebrated, especially at a public place like a capital. Contention 3: A similar supreme court decision shows that a state cannot put offensive materials on its property. "The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Texas" refusal to issue a license plate bearing the Confederate battle flag, rejecting a free-speech challenge. The court said in a 5-4 ruling that Texas can limit the content of license plates because they are state property and not the equivalent of bumper stickers." This is significant because it shows that the flag should not be put on state property. It also shows that there is genuine concern that the flag will offend citizens. I look forward to you responses and thanks again for accepting my debate. Sources: http://dfw.cbslocal.com... https://dumpdc.wordpress.com... http://www.care2.com...