With racial injustice being a common theme in the American life now, the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag is being questioned as a result of its racial history. Although many think that words that describe this flag are along the lines of freedom or equality, it is quite the contrary. This flag can be traced back to slavery, and its creator was a slave owner as well as a slave trader according to Eugene Volokh from The Washington Post. With that fact becoming more and more common knowledge, people are starting to challenge the flag and its legality.
Even though many believe it is part of their First Amendment rights to own this flag and display it, it raises the question of when freedom of speech challenges another person’s freedom. People who issues similar to this one do not affect tend not to care about the bigger picture and people outside of them and their race, which is a large contributing factor with present-day racism.
This flag has been banned in workplaces due to the residual message supporting racism and inequality it portrays. Business leaders have decided it is right and just to take anything out of the workplace that can be skewed in a negative or racist way, so many banned any variation of this message in their places of employment. The flag has also been banned from the Navy Seals uniforms, which shows the government’s side in this debate. The defenders of America’s freedom have taken this racist message off of their uniforms, encouraging the idea that maybe its message really does have a negative connotation.
To the people who still support the flag's message of “freedom:" you need to start noticing its underpinnings of racism. By flying it, you are only supporting the message of racism, the opposite of what you thought you were supporting.
