There are many different tones that I observed in the stories Texas V.S. Johnson and American flag stands for Tolerance stories. First, in the Texas V.S. Johnson story the tone was very serious. I think it has a serious tone because it is written in legal writing probably by a judge or someone with high authority. Secondly , in the American flag stands for Tolerance story the tone is more laid back and not as important. I think it is more laid back because it is an editor trying to get this story out. There are several difference between the tones in the Texas V.S. Johnson story and the American Flag stands for Tolerance story. First, the Texas V.S.Johnson story was written in legal writing form, and the story, American Flag stands for tolerance
.... Madison was applied to this decision because the actions committed were unconstitutional. According to the Supreme Court the 8th Amendment was broken because the District Court of Appeal was giving a cruel and unusual punishment to Graham. The 8th amendment claus does not allow a juvenile offender to be sentenced to life in jail without a parole for a non-homicidal crime. Therefore Terrance could not fall through with this punishment.
Currently in the United States of America, there is a wave a patriotism sweeping across this great land: a feeling of pride in being an American and in being able to call this nation home. The United States is the land of the free and the home of the brave; however, for the African-American citizens of the United States, from the inception of this country to midway through the twentieth century, there was no such thing as freedom, especially in the Deep South. Nowhere is that more evident than in Stories of Scottsboro, an account of the Scottsboro trials of 1931-1937, where nine African-American teenage boys were falsely accused of raping two white girls in Scottsboro, Alabama and no matter how much proof was brought forth proving there innocence, they were always guilty. This was a period of racism and bigotry in our country that is deeply and vividly portrayed though different points of view through author James E. Goodman.
A very controversial court case in American history was Texas vs. Johnson (1984). In 1984, a man named Gregory Lee Johnson followed a group of anti – Reagan protesters to oppose the American exploitation of third world countries. This act of rebellion resulted in the burning of the American flag. Out of a total of approximately one hundred demonstrators who were involved in this ordeal, Johnson was solely charged with a crime. Johnson was arrested under Texas law, which made the burning of the United States or Texas flags crimes. Johnson was convicted and sentenced to one year in jail and fined two thousand dollars for his crime in restitution. Texas reasoned that the police were preventing the breach of peace; consider the flag a symbol of national unity. At Johnson's court trial, he was convicted of aiding, abetting and encouraging the burning of the Texan flag. This, in turn, made Johnson guilty under Texas state law.
The Star Spangled Banner is currently America’s National Anthem which says a lot about its importance. During the time that this song was written, America was at war with the British in 1812 at the Battle of Baltimore. Francis Scott Key wrote this song after seeing the American flag still standing after the battle in which the British had failed. The inspiration this song brings to the United States proves it to be extremely patriotic and nationalistic. The first verse of the song is what most Americans are familiar with. The Star Spangled Banner provides a visual image of the war and how the flag symbolized America’s independence from Britain. I believe that Francis Scott Key was trying to communicate the importance of America’s independence through symbolism, and provide a sense of nationalism by using description of the war that America had won. The American Flag symbolizes freedom that was fought for while trying to gain independence. It states in the Star Spangled banner that America is “Land of the free and home of the brave”. This signifies nationalism in the sense that in the battle for our independence, we fought for a country that we believed in and
There are 3 colors in the art: black, white and red. That represent for 3 types of people in the America. The artist wanted to criticize the racist during that time. Especially she is an African American. All black people didn’t have the right to vote in that time. The other element of design in this art is line. In the background of the art, we can see that is the American flag. The artist wanted to concentrate that the issue is happen in the America. In addition, it also the symbol of the jail and the face of the woman were sad. Faith Ringgold wanted to say over the art that why we are all human, we live in the same country, we speak the same language but why don’t we have the same right? “With the element of the American flag used, Faith Ringgold turn the flag into prison cell, the star becomes sheriff’s badge, the stripes turn to black bars of jail; white woman pledging allegiance to flag while denying blacks right to vote, she is a prisoner in her own bigotry” (pg 17 text book). The principles of design that she used in the art are balance and contrast. We can see the balance by looking at the stripes in the art and the contrast by the color that Faith Ringgold used in her painting. In the real life, each color in the American flag has its own meaning. Red symbolizes hardiness and valor. White symbolizes Purity and Innocence. Blue represents Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice. However, in God Bless America, everything is changed. One thing we should pay attention in this art is her hand. She putted her hand on her heart like she was praying or wishing that the racist will be stopped and everybody can be
To this day, Americans have many rights and privileges. Rights stated in the United States constitution may be simple and to the point, but the rights Americans have may cause debate to whether or not something that happens in society, is completely reasonable. The Texas v. Johnson case created much debate due to a burning of the American Flag. One may say the burning of the flag was tolerable because of the rights citizens of the United States have, another may say it was not acceptable due to what the American flag symbolizes for America. (Brennan and Stevens 1). Johnson was outside of his First Amendment rights, and the burning of the American flag was unjust due to what the flag means to America.
Lawrence v. Texas In the case Lawrence v. Texas (539 U.S. 558, 2003) which was the United States Supreme Court case the criminal prohibition of the homosexual pederasty was invalidated in Texas. The same issue has been already addressed in 1989 in the case Bowers v. Hardwick, however, the constitutional protection of sexual privacy was not found at that time. Lawrence overruled Bowers and held that sexual conduct was the right protected by the due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The effects of the ruling were quite widespread and led to invalidation of the similar laws throughout the United States that tried to criminalize the homosexual activity of adults who were acting in privacy.
Every country has icons that specify objects that represent beliefs, values, or tradition that make that country unique. As the United States of America has many such as, Statue of Liberty and the American Flag. Yasmin Sabina Khan shows in her book "Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty” why the Statue of Liberty was built, how each part of the statue describes everything and how it represents U.S today. In “Capture The Flag: The Stars And Stripes In American History”, Scot M Guenter talks about how the American flag is seen everywhere and how the flag has remained strong throughout many incidents. In the Barbara Kingsolver essay “And Our Flag Was Still There”, she writes about the meaning of the American flag and how it represents our country in different ways. And at last, Dave Barry shows us in his “Red, White and Beer”, the strong effects that patriotism can have on the sales and advertising of products. All of these icons
Sadly, this violent attack provides a perfect example of the racism symbolically presented by the Confederate flag. However, some southerners would argue that the initial meaning of the Confederate flag had little association to anything (Prince, n.d.). The flag initially was viewed by many southern natives as a symbol of southern heritage and pride (World Book Student, 2016). As mentioned above, the flag was flown during the Civil War when southern states were attempting to secede from the northern states. For this reason, the flag is symbolic to southern natives because it symbolizes the beliefs of their ancestors; beliefs that many lost their lives for.
The dissenting opinion to the previous idea is that the government's legitimate interest in preserving the symbolic value of the flag is, however, essentially the same that may have motivated a particular act of flag burning. The flag uniquely symbolizes the ideas of liberty, equality, and tolerance -- ideas that Americans have passionately defended and debated throughout our history. The flag embodies the spirit of our national commitment to those ideals. To the world, the flag is our promise that we will continue to strive for these ideals. To us, the flag is a reminder both that the struggle for li...
“The land of the free and home of the brave,” the infamous line from America’s national anthem, Star-Spangled Banner, but how much did this ring truth for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Era? On October 16, 1968, gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos challenged “the false vision of what it meant to be black in America.” (Pg. 108, John Carlos story) Although John Carlos and Tommie Smith ridiculed and ostracized because of their defiant act, which respectfully recognized as an iconic, powerful image labeled as the “black power salute” in the summer Olympics of 1968 in Mexico City. Carlos and Smith used the Olympics’ medal ceremony stage to challenge and bring recognition to the racism within sports and the United States in a silent gesture. This significant moment of their act of bravery, courage and willingness to sacrifice their sport careers and life to call attention to the segregation, racism and white supremacy back home for those who did not have a platform. “Smith and Carlos opened a unique symbolic space for dialogue and debate about these issues.” (Pg. 26, Douglas Hartmann) Without saying a single word, they captured the nation’s attention.
On the 11th of June, 1982 following the conviction of a criminal offense, Robert Johnson was sentenced to two years probation. The terms of his probation included his person, posessions, and residence being searched upon reasonable request. When a search warrant was executed for Johnson’s roommate, officers testified that with enough reasonable suspicion, they were able to search Johnson’s living area as well.
Some people see the American flag as patriotism. These people are the ones who have their flags out all year around. The ones who always have them flying high. Some of these people even have American flags hanging off their cars. To some people the American flag is their son or daughter who they have lost either in the line of duty in the military, on the police force, or even the fire department. Although its sad but true some Americans have no patriotism and could care less what happens around them. These people will only care if it affects them in a harmful way.
The most obvious similarity between the two essays is the overarching theme of the subject matter. In both essays, the writers address deeply-entrenched social injustices. For example, in "Letter From Birmingham Jail", King, in his highly-impassioned and evocative style, submits a powerful essay that addresses racial segregation in the American South during the 1950s and 1960s. In his letter, King mentions that the brutal history of the "American Negro's" trials and tribulations measured by the impact of the social injustices that they had suffered were traceable to the era of slavery, a history that had rooted long before President Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" was written (5).
The American Flag is a symbol of our freedom itself. We gained our independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. Since then we have solely on how we are going to remain a free country. After we gained our independence we stopped viewing freedom as a privilege. We began to believe that freedom is a right we should be given if we live in America. Yet, we were still using slaves for many years after we gained our independence. If we would have put into consideration what the slaves felt about us (white’s) getting freedom, and blacks not getting the same freedoms, I feel like we would have changed our minds about how we treat them. Freedom, or maybe liberty, is considered an unalienable right, which means it is god given right. Freedom has shaped our country into what it is today. We have the freedoms to do what we want, when we want, how we want, etc. is what makes America different from many other countries. Patrick Henry says, “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course other may take, but as for me, give it liberty, or give me death!” Patrick Henry was an orator during the 18th century that strongly supported the independence movement. Liberty is a major aspect of our country,