Controversy makes everyone super uncomfortable. Unless you’re in America, in which it makes us all inch toward orgasm. We love it here! We especially love it when it pits us against our fellow men and women. Okay, I guess I should give some examples. Jeez, you people are demanding.
You know how people are always saying that flags are really interesting? No? Well, they should be. It’s a piece of fabric blowing in the wind with some decisively chosen pattern on it to represent…pretty much anything. Because everything on earth needs to be team sports and nationalism and exclusivity. And this started hundreds of years before Manchester United, the Soviet Union, or NASCAR.
Flags are sort of unusual. But there’s no question that people take them quite seriously. For instance, people here in the United States get pretty riled up over the confederate flag still being flown. Others fly it proudly as an “homage to their history.” Likewise, the rainbow colors of the LGBT flag showcase pride for a group of individuals seeking their own freedoms. These two demographics are often in opposition to one another, and both flags often attract dissension.
I guess the difference is that the confederate flag literally represents an era where half of the nation treasonously wanted to secede over the topic of enslaving humans. So it is not embraced by some folks. But either way, this is still our freedom of expression isn’t it? I should be able to fly a flag with my own naked buttcheeks on it, so long as it means something to people. Which it obviously would.
The LGBT flag represents love and support for all people who may have been oppressed because of their sexuality or identity. Sounds like an exercise in freedom to me. And if you feel that the confederate flag symbolizes your own history, I’d say that also should be permitted, so long as you don’t enshrine it as a historical remembrance of oppression.
Honestly, the first amendment, as written, should allow freedom for anyone to express their own flag in any way. But don’t be surprised if a crowd casts stones at you when your expression is something that endorses hatred rather than tolerance. That is also a form of free speech. You’re permitted to fly any flag, and others are permitted to judge what you’re standing for.
Meanwhile, in the NFL, kneeling during the anthem is now unacceptable. Hit the locker room if you want to engage in such an outrageous usage of our constitutional rights. Even if the players say outright that they are not disrespecting America, and that the act of kneeling is typically one of reverence. Does free speech and protest apply here? I guess not in this case. Even if you don’t agree with the decision to kneel in silent protest, I believe that it’s still important to to acknowledge their right to do so. As Evelyn Beatrice Hall famously said: “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll fight to the death your right to say it.” Again, this is an exercise of our first amendment that is freedom for which men and women have died.
And most recently, the television reboot of the show Roseanne was canceled. Oh, its ratings were spectacular. But the woman made a racist post on Twitter that associated a black woman with Planet of the Apes. And likening a black human being with a primate is absolutely unacceptable in our culture. You’re fired, Roseanne. Sure it was in poor taste, and I imagine the decision was made purely as a business and reputation conservation. But it’s another mark against our hypocritical affair with that pesky first amendment.
We are dancing on both the left and the right here, aren’t we? Some people applaud some of this and condemn the rest of it. Where does the line get drawn? Does it have anything to do with your political stance? I’ll bet it does. But my stance is that free speech and expression is stifled and tolerated all across the board with absolutely no consistency. I’ve had bathroom breaks at amusement parks that were more consistent.
Here’s the takeaway: the first amendment doesn’t care what side of the aisle you sit at. It’s an all-inclusive right that allows us to speak and express ourselves in any way we see fit, so long as we are not infringing upon another’s rights or well-being.
Both the confederate and LGBT flags should be allowed to be flown at any time. Yes, the former represents a terrible time in American history, but to some, it represents a culture of the area where they were raised. And the LGBT flag may offend some, but it is the right of these Americans to express their pride and freedom to be the people who they were born to be. Professional athletes should be permitted to protest as they see fit — it’s okay if you personally have a problem with this, but they have a message that they see as salient, and it is their right to honorably express themselves in a peaceful way. Roseanne Barr may not rub everyone in the right way, but it’s her right to make any sort of offensive joke if she chooses so. Comedians do this all the time, as that’s what makes headlines for them. You may not agree, but you also don’t have to watch. And ABC has the right to cancel her show if they see that move as harmful to their reputation and sponsorships. This is also a freedom afforded in this great nation.
The first amendment applies to us all, and it may not always sit comfortably with everyone. Just like a batch of egg salad at your last family reunion on a hot day. But we all need to swallow it. Being sensitive is not always a bad thing, but most people agree that hypersensitivity is a trademark characteristic that’s damaging modern America.
Whatever you support, keep in mind that your support isn’t the only thing that matters. Because we live in a nation of contrasting opinions, and if they all don’t get their fair shake, how can we say we believe in our Constitution? Tolerance is a tool that can save us all.
Now go make a batch of egg salad and eat it outside. We need that metaphor to ring true.