Taking a ban on Confederate flag displays to an absurd extreme

In 2016, even the Los Angeles Times editorial board, hardly a friend of the Confederate flag, said California had gone too far. The state had passed a law meant to keep the Confederate flag off state property, but when it was used to pull a painting of a Civil War battle out of a county fair art show, the paper called the result absurd. As the editors pointed out, trying to outlaw the image of a flag is a lot like trying to outlaw a word, and that is not possible in a country that values free speech.

California’s Confederate Flag Law

In 2014, California passed a law barring the state from selling or displaying the Confederate flag, or images of it, on state property. Supporters said it would keep a divisive symbol out of public places. The law included exceptions for books, educational materials and historical displays, but it left plenty of room for confusion.

A Painting Pulled From the Fair

County fairs in California are run on state property. When an artist entered a painting of a Civil War battle that showed a Confederate flag in the scene, fair officials removed it from the art show, citing the law. The painting was not a political statement. It was a picture of history, the kind that hangs in museums and appears in textbooks every day.

The decision drew criticism from across the political spectrum. If a painting of a real battle could be banned, what about a photograph from Gettysburg, a reenactment, or a page in a history book? You cannot tell the story of the Civil War without showing the flags the soldiers carried.

Free Speech for Everyone

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled many times that flags and images are protected forms of expression under the First Amendment. A law that tries to erase a symbol from art and history sets a dangerous example. Today it is the Confederate flag. Tomorrow it could be any symbol someone finds offensive. The best answer to speech you disagree with has always been more speech, not less.

Read more in Why We Will Never Ban the Confederate Flag Here and Side by Side: Two Civil War Paintings, and browse our Confederate flag collection.

Source: Los Angeles Times: Taking a ban on Confederate flag displays to an absurd extreme

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