Burning a Nation's Flag: Hate Crime

Burning a nation's flag: Hate Crime or Free Speech? A nation's flag is one of the most important things to a country. Citizens of a nation use it during special ceremonies, and a nation's flag is displayed all over that nation. A flag is an emblem shown as a symbol of unity. It symbolizes the pride and history of a nation. So what does burning a nation's flag mean? Is it considered a hate crime and illegal, or is it considered an act of free speech and protected by the First Amendment? For the purposes of this argument, a hate crime is defined as a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence (What Are Hate Crimes?). I believe that burning a nation's flag is not a hate crime due to the fact that burning a nation's flag falls under a category that is protected by the First Amendment. In a hate crime, the targeted group could be categorized by not just race or sexuality, but religion and political beliefs or group as well. By burning a nation's flag, we could easily categorize it as targeting a political group. When a person burns a nation's flag, he/she could be targeting the general people of that nation, the government of that nation, or to be even more specific, the leaders of that government. . In this case, we will say that the political group referred to is the government(to be more specific, the American government). Therefore, by burning a nation's flag, someone disagrees and takes a stand against a political activity or decision. In contrast to what a hate crime is, an act of free speech, protected by the First Amendment, is the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint. An act of free speech does not necessarily mean saying something out loud. It could also mean expressing your opinions about something by using actions. Since burning a nation's flag suggests taking a stand against a political activity, it is a way of expressing your opinion. Similar to free speech, freedom of expression