Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Lebell
Host,
Given the same set of circumstances, I would indeed support such a dress.
You've made a bad assumption, e.g. that I don't find the stars and bars offensive, when in reality I do. I think that it has become inextricably linked to racism, even as the swastika has.
I also think that I need to say that I think that schools need to be allowed to set dress codes and that children should be censored in some ways that adults are not. What I see in the offered comparative case is hypocrisy, that a school cannot censor a child for wearing a homosexual related t-shirt, but that they can for wearing a confederate dress.
IMO, neither should be allowed if they become a disruption or both should be allowed. (I would actually institute manditory dress codes banning t-shirts, but that is another thread.)
|
Lebell, I assumed that you were taking a stance that I fully support; "I may
not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to my death, your right to say
it." I did not intend to infer that you, personally, held a bias in favor of the
stars and bars flag.
This issue is about freedom of expression. I argued that there is a defense for
a school's administration setting limits to the manner of student dress and
conduct on school property and at school sponsored events.
I don't think that an adult wearing any flag or symbol in public, no matter
how offensive I personally find the flag or symbol to be, rises to the level of yelling "fire" in a crowded movie theater. Since I am resistant to cede judgment of what is or isn't offensive, to any regulatory body, I am willing to
accept the inevitable fallout of living in a country where adults are free to
speak their minds and to express themselves peacefully. I believe that
the prohibitions in France and in Germany regarding the sale of Nazi paraphenalia and books, such as "Mein Kampf", are misguided and compromise
the right to truly free speech.
Laws designed to "protect" the American flag from being burned or worn as
clothing are also infringements on our bill of rights, and until now, the U.S.
Supreme Court has found such laws to be unconstitutional.
Adults are free to say what they will and to wear what they want. Citizens
who take offense are free, in each instance, to protest and to ostracize as
they see fit. Institutional behavior, such as the design of some southern state flags that contained the stars and bars of the old confederacy, was
changed by new attitudes that came about partly because of the migration
to the south of millions of Americans from other parts of the country who
were not steeped in the traditions of white "southern pride". This new influx
responded to those who found the stars and bars to be offensive, and elected legislatures who voted to eliminate this confederate icon from their
state flags. States that were defiant suffered consumer boycotts and unfavorable publicity. In the public domain, this is the constitutional way to
eliminate governmental policy that the majority finds to be offensive.