“Emotional Divisiveness: The Flag,” by Timothy Trainer, author, “The Fortunate Son”
Bad policies? Bad poll numbers? Increasing prices? Is it time to find another issue to divide the people? Or is this the one to rally everyone behind something? Did the busy people in the White House huddle and decide that an Executive Order about flag burning would be an easy win with fist-pumps and chest pounding all around?
Red, white and blue, the colors of our flag are not at all unique. Twenty-nine countries have national flags comprised of the same red, white and blue colors. Countries With Red, White And Blue Flags – WorldAtlas.
It’s a wonderful political ploy. Flag burning annoys, angers and incites people. Who would disagree that the flag is a cherished symbol? Who disagrees that burning the flag is offensive and provocative?
The question is why does flag burning cause this reaction? Beyond a piece of cloth that indicates that the “stars and stripes” is our flag, what is behind the symbolism? Is it because it conjures up images of brave and courageous soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have carried and hoisted the flag in battle? Is it because we embrace freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press guaranteed by the constitution? Is it because it represents progress through the extension of voting rights to women and people of color? Is it because, in theory, we live in a country that delivers equal treatment to all (a concept still questionable in today’s USA)? Is it because of the high standard of living our economy has delivered? Is it because we have, thus far, enjoyed a country that provides what is considered decent basic education capped by some of the best universities in the world?
The United States has witnessed many ways that citizens express displeasure with government policies or conduct as well as discriminatory policies. In 1948, “Edna Griffin organized a boycott, conducted sit-ins, and picketed in front of the store every Saturday for two months, demanding an end to race-based refusal of service.” She eventually won her legal case based on the Iowa Civil Rights Act. The Little Known History of Black Women Using Soda Fountains as Contested Spaces – AAIHS. Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus to white passengers was a peaceful, quiet act to defy discriminatory policies. Rosa Parks | Biography, Accomplishments, Quotes, Family, & Facts | Britannica. It required decades of effort, including picketing and demonstrating in front of the White House for women to gain the right vote in the United States. Women’s Suffrage | Voters and Voting Rights | Presidential Elections and Voting in U.S. History | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress.
Essentially, various types of conduct have displayed citizens’ displeasure at practices or policies deemed not just unacceptable but wrong. Flag burning occurred numerous times at anti-war demonstrations during the Vietnam War. It was not until 1989 that the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the matter head on when a demonstrator who opposed some policies of the Reagan Administration burned the flag and was prosecuted.TEXAS, Petitioner v. Gregory Lee JOHNSON. | Supreme Court | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute.
The Executive Order (Prosecuting Burning of The American Flag – The White House) instructs the U.S. Justice Department to “prioritize the enforcement to the fullest extent possible of our Nation’s criminal and civil laws against acts of American Flag desecration that violate applicable, content-neutral laws, while causing harm unrelated to expression, consistent with the First Amendment.” Given the Supreme Court’s decision, the Executive Order is wholly unnecessary because the Court’s decision provides a more instructive legal guide to the type of inquiry necessary to take legal action against an individual who burns the flag.
Nothing is so simple if it’s issued by this White House. When we have a White House occupant who purges women and people of color without any reason given, when he demands apologies, threatens firings, threatens investigations of individuals who he dislikes or who disagrees with him, why not target people who might burn the flag as a political statement of protest?
This Executive Order goes to the heart of what makes the United States unique in the world or has up to this point. Trump’s disdain for anyone disagreeing with him and his demand for those to fall in line with his thinking undercuts the First Amendment’s right to freedom of expression and the premise that the freedom of expression is to protect those who may possess an unpopular political view and may demonstrate their opposition to the government through the act of flag burning.
Indeed, the Supreme Court in the Texas v. Johnson case, which overturned a conviction for flag burning, emphasizes some fundamentals about the First Amendment and our freedom to express our displeasure with our government. The Supreme Court wrote that “Johnson was not, we add, prosecuted for the expression of just any idea; he was prosecuted for his expression of dissatisfaction with the policies of this country, expression situated at the core of our First Amendment values.”
The Court also stated that “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.” Near the end of the majority’s decision, the Court wrote: ”Our decision is a reaffirmation of the principles of freedom and inclusiveness that the flag best reflects, and of the conviction that our toleration of criticism such as Johnson’s is a sign and source of our strength.”
Ultimately, it’s ironic that many will applaud this act from a man who defies the laws of these United States, who defies the courts, who violates his oath of office to protect and defend the constitution and who evaded military service. He’ll receive support by tugging at the emotional strings of citizens by attempting to undermine one of the very core rights guaranteed by the constitution and recognized as an act of political defiance and expression by the Supreme Court of the United States.
About the Timothy Trainer: Writing books is a passion for attorney Timothy Trainer, who for more than three decades focused on intellectual property issues in his day job. He has worked in government agencies and in the private sector and his assignments have taken him to 60 countries around the world.
Tim found time to pen a few non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2022. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff.
Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2019, Pendulum Over the Pacific, was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains.
In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection.
In 2025, he published the sequel, The China Factor, which ranked #63 on the Amazon Asian Literature list in May.
Learn more about this book and Tim’s writing process when he’s interviewed by author Jeffrey James Higgins’ for his new Inkandescent podcast and video show: Elaine’s Literary Salon.
Learn about Tim’s work and books: timothytrainer.com
