The term “venerated object” as it applies to the US flag. I read up on the Supreme Court decision that allows for use, misuse, and destruction of the US flag to be covered under the First Amendment. The specific decision is Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989). The basics of this landmark decision are as follows:

Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag outside of the convention center where the 1984 Republican National Convention was being held in Dallas, Texas. Johnson burned the flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan. He was arrested and charged with violating a Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object, including the American flag, if such action were likely to incite anger in others. A Texas court tried and convicted Johnson. He appealed, arguing that his actions were “symbolic speech” protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court heard the case and decided 5-4 in Johnson’s favor.

The majority of the Court, according to Justice William Brennan, agreed with Johnson and held that flag burning constitutes a form of “symbolic speech” that is protected by the First Amendment. The majority noted that freedom of speech protects actions that society may find very offensive, but society’s outrage alone is not justification for suppressing free speech. In particular, the majority noted that the Texas law discriminated upon viewpoint, i.e., although the law punished actions, such as flag burning, that might arouse anger in others, it specifically exempted from prosecution actions that were respectful of venerated objects, e.g., burning and burying a worn-out flag. The majority said that the government could not discriminate in this manner based solely upon viewpoint. The dissent was written by Justice John Stevens, who argued that the flag’s unique status as a symbol of national unity outweighed “symbolic speech” concerns, and thus, the government could lawfully prohibit flag burning.

Here is where I get my knickers in a twist – the term “venerated object” is really problematic. Depending on privilege, it can and often has meant that objects venerated by the privileged are protected while objects venerated by the non-privileged are treated with disrespect openly and often. When I walk into a museum, I see other cultures’ venerated objects everywhere, removed from those cultures (by sometimes questionable or violent means). The word used by museums is “collection”. Which sanitizes these objects for a privileged audience. I find it heartbreaking.

And I suppose that one could argue, since I find it heartbreaking that privileged culture treats these “venerated objects” badly, I should have more empathy for the US flag as a “venerated object”. I wish it were that simple. There are things that I won’t do to this flag I’ve made – I won’t urinate or defecate on it. I won’t use it to malign troops, either former or active. And I won’t write vulgarities on it. But using it as a means to call attention to privilege and systems of oppression? Yes. I will do that. And as the current symbol of a Nationalist cult that wants to strip rights – hard fought rights – from vulnerable individuals in our society, I will use it and anything else I can to bring attention to those issues. Because, often, a privileged group won’t listen until it’s pushed to do so. Honestly, if we are to call ourselves patriots in the true sense of the word, we should all be angry that white supremacists and nationalists are co-opting the US flag for such purposes. If it is truly the symbol of freedom and equality, those groups using it is a perversion of epic proportions.

As I’ve continued to research the US flag, I’ve had several ideas come to me about how I want to use it as a very loud, emotionally charged symbol. I’ll first need to finish this one, though. I need to teach my embroidery machine to make stars of the right size and then I’ll need to sit there and embroider them. Also, did you know that there was a specification for the size and shape of the various elements of the flag? I wanted to make a flag on spec because I wanted to start with a “perfect” flag but I screwed that up so I’m going to have to make another one. This one will still get finished but, for purposes of using it as a painting reference, it’s fine.

Which brings me to the last thing I want to talk about – I made this flag. I tore the strips, I sewed the lapped seams, I will machine embroider the stars. Is this flag now more mine to do with as I please than any flag I might purchase? John Locke would say “yes”. His Labor Theory of Property is known as a theory of ‘natural law’. It holds that property originally comes about by the exertion of labor upon natural resources. The theory has been used to justify the homestead principle, which holds that one may gain whole permanent ownership of an unowned natural resource by performing an act of original appropriation.

And how interesting is the use of that last word, right? In fact, how interesting is that entire theory when seen through Indian eyes?