Why The Confederate Flag “Bans” Are Totally Constitutional

If you really are so personally upset about this that you want to see the Confederate battle flag live on, then make your own, set up shop, and provide this service that you apparently think is so needed to fill the void. Let the rest of us decide, democratically, to finally move into the 21st Century in peace. Thanks.

A close friend of mine whom I respect a great deal on many intellectual fronts recently had this to say regarding the issue:

“The question of whether or not to fly a confederate flag on public property shouldn’t even be a question. If you contribute to public infrastructure, you as a part owner should not have to stand for seeing an ideology supported or propagated by that infrastructure.

“One of the many good reasons we have a separation of church and state is to prevent the public from being forced to support a religious cause. Why should someone be forced to support the cause of memorializing the Confederate States? This should be taken to an extreme – if even one contributor doesn’t want to support the cause, then he/she should either not be forced to contribute at all or the public infrastructure cannot support that cause.”

And that is the matter in a nutshell – this is not a call to ban use or acquisition of the flag on private property of for private reasons, and unless a new law gets proposed trying to stamp the Confederacy out of the history books, or to confiscate those purchased and flown on private property, I won’t be complaining much about this trend as of late. To hell with the flag – I no longer want to be forced to “furnish funds” for something I do not relate to and find disgusting. Jefferson’s brand of tyranny absolutely applies, here, and I believe it is completely Constitutional and morally correct to democratically decide to no longer publicly fly a symbol whose cause was long destroyed over a century ago.

I do not take this position lightly, and I am fully aware of all the nuance present in the Civil War’s history. Unlike many of the liberals out there spouting their ignorance on the matter, I am fully aware that the Civil War was not just or even primarily about slavery, at least in the beginning. I am also aware that many southern soldiers fighting for the Confederacy did not necessarily do so for personally racist or pro-slavery reasons; many southerners were scared of tyrannical overreach and truly did want to fight in order to preserve states’ rights and their private property. However, this fight was theirs to be had and did not completely reflect the initial cause of the confederacy leaders themselves, which undoubtedly was racist.

Celebrating the concept of secession on its own, as well as recognizing the complexity of the Civil War itself, does not still require me, you, or anyone to endorse or embrace the Confederate States of America and its monstrous 3/5 principle. And I for one refuse to do so. If you do, then I will not stop you – I will, however, exercise my rights and remind you frequently of just how and why I find your position ignorant, divisive, and superfluous. That’s the beauty of freedom. And at the end of that Civil War you want me to “educate” myself on, freedom won.