Updated to include recent Congressional debates on a constitutional amendment and the controversy over an Arizona art show, this is an historical analysis of the debate over the desecration of the American flag. It takes readers from the 1989 flag-burning incident that ignited an emotionally-charged controversy across the nation back to the origins of the flag as a symbol of America. The flag did not become an object of veneration until the end of the Civil War, when groups of ultra-patriotic citizens and veterans lobbied hard to give it unique status as a symbol of the nation. Objections to unorthodox uses of the flag first arose around the turn of the century, when it was appropriated for commercial, advertising, and "mainstream" political purposes. Although feelings ran high during these early debates, today such uses are commonplace and, ironically, are generally viewed as patriotic. In the early 1900s popular concern shifted to the apparent threat posed by "un-American, subversive" radicals, immigrants, and organized workers.
That controversy died down in the 1920s, and the flag did not make headlines again until the emergence of broad opposition to US involvement in the Vietnam War fuelled a clash between defenders of the flag and defenders of free speech, who contended that burning the flag was a form of political speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment. In his analysis, Goldstein argues that the most recent desecration controversy reflects not only the genuine pride and patriotism of the people but also a disturbingly shallow grasp of the underlying substance of the political freedom that the flag is meant to symbolize. He contends that this failure fully to comprehend the nature of the freedoms on which the American nation is founded raises questions about the vigour and integrity of contemporary American society.
- ISBN10 0813333008
- ISBN13 9780813333007
- Publish Date 14 October 1996 (first published 26 December 1994)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 25 May 2000
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
- Imprint Westview Press Inc
- Format Paperback
- Pages 288
- Language English