Magneto wrote:
Given the historical connections between the American flag and the oppression of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans, should the American flag be banned from display on government buildings? Furthermore, should private individuals be prevented from flying the flag, due to it's status as a symbol of hate?
It seems like history really is about winners and losers, where the winners are not held to the same standard of conduct. The US government has worked as an oppressive agent in the past while condemning enemies for crimes against humanity. The one event that rocketed the civil rights movement was World War ii and what happened during the holocaust and this was subsequent to the Indian Removal Act which was the stripping of Indian land, in exchange for land elsewhere. See, what happened is these epidemics of disease harmed the Native American populations so the government, and I am not supporting what they chose to do btw, decided the tribes didn't need their traditional land holdings. They were too large. So what the government wanted to do was give them smaller parcels of land.
Maybe it is something Americans need to consider when looking at the flag.
Yes, the government, at times, tries to help Native Americans but at the same time, has done a lot of harm as well, especially when they insisted Indians give up their culture, language and way of life by sending their kids to boarding schools where they learned European/ protestant culture and were required to speak English and the US flag does represent this type of oppression on and off during history. Even now, Native Americans explore their lost culture you see disgruntled folk trying to erode this process by saying they aren't blending in or assimilating but they have done a lot of fighting in a variety of wars for the US.