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Beauty.
Love.
2
00:00:19,936 --> 00:00:21,563
Unity.
-Family.
3
00:00:21,646 --> 00:00:23,857
-Acceptance.
Inclusion and freedom.
4
00:00:25,859 --> 00:00:27,569
This flag brings fear.
5
00:00:27,652 --> 00:00:28,987
-Hate.
-Anger.
6
00:00:29,070 --> 00:00:29,904
Genocide.
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Barbarism.
8
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Propaganda.
9
00:00:33,533 --> 00:00:35,035
A sense of pride.
10
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Dream and pursuit of happiness.
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It makes me feel safe.
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-Division.
-Oppression.
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At times,
I feel confused and disappointed.
14
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Flags can terrorize and divide us,
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but they can also unite us.
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They can articulate
who we are and what we want.
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00:00:52,552 --> 00:00:55,972
Flags can mean completely
different things to different people,
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and they can be one of the most powerful,
19
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and sometimes dangerous,
tools in the world.
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How can a piece of cloth
both unify and divide us?
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00:01:05,899 --> 00:01:08,276
And why does it hold so much power?
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I pledge allegiance to the flag.
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Displaying to the world his ideal,
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a symbol of his patriotism.
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00:01:18,745 --> 00:01:21,956
Flags strike
a warm response in every heart.
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00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:23,917
We fought for that flag.
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If the flag could talk,
it could write a book.
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That flag has always
represented hate to me.
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00:01:31,049 --> 00:01:35,095
Changing the flag
signals a change of attitude.
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Indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
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One of our most basic
human needs is to belong.
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It's why we formed tribes,
clans, and religions.
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And when our group succeeds,
we experience that success as our own.
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When our team wins, we cheer.
35
00:02:00,495 --> 00:02:04,874
When our team loses,
we personally feel a trauma
36
00:02:04,958 --> 00:02:07,836
that wasn't really
our own experience to begin with.
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00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:12,799
We merge our own personal identity
into a larger whole.
38
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And that whole
is represented by the flag.
39
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The flag is one of the strongest
ideological markers
40
00:02:19,430 --> 00:02:21,182
in our cultural repertoire.
41
00:02:21,766 --> 00:02:24,519
But before that,
flags were just tools.
42
00:02:24,602 --> 00:02:27,814
Early societies used them
to signal across distances
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00:02:27,897 --> 00:02:30,316
that a ruler was coming, or an invader.
44
00:02:31,025 --> 00:02:33,570
Ships used them
to send messages back and forth.
45
00:02:34,195 --> 00:02:35,947
And they were critical in battle.
46
00:02:37,991 --> 00:02:41,661
You have to know where your friends are
and where your enemies are.
47
00:02:41,744 --> 00:02:43,830
And this is signaled by the flag.
48
00:02:43,913 --> 00:02:47,375
Early flags were made
of everything from animal hair to metal.
49
00:02:48,042 --> 00:02:50,086
But then, around 6,000 years ago,
50
00:02:50,170 --> 00:02:51,838
China invented silk.
51
00:02:51,921 --> 00:02:54,841
It spread rapidly
along a network of trading routes
52
00:02:54,924 --> 00:02:56,551
known as the Silk Road.
53
00:02:56,634 --> 00:02:58,261
Silk was used
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00:02:58,344 --> 00:03:00,346
to make the most prestigious flags,
55
00:03:00,430 --> 00:03:03,975
the flags of the monarchs
and the flags of the heads of state.
56
00:03:04,058 --> 00:03:06,561
But then these kingdoms
started to fall.
57
00:03:08,438 --> 00:03:11,357
In the 19th century,
two revolutions happened.
58
00:03:11,441 --> 00:03:13,401
People, thanks to technology,
59
00:03:13,484 --> 00:03:16,613
became more aware of what was happening
all around the country.
60
00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,284
And at the same time, they took over
power from the kings and the rulers.
61
00:03:21,367 --> 00:03:25,371
What emerged out of that
was a new type of political entity
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00:03:25,455 --> 00:03:27,874
called the nation state.
63
00:03:27,957 --> 00:03:31,878
Without a monarch, these nations
needed a new identity to unite them.
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00:03:31,961 --> 00:03:35,965
In order to foster a feeling
of belonging together as a nation state,
65
00:03:36,049 --> 00:03:38,176
a bit of branding was a useful exercise.
66
00:03:38,259 --> 00:03:41,721
We needed a shared belief system,
67
00:03:41,804 --> 00:03:44,641
and the flag helped do that.
68
00:03:45,516 --> 00:03:48,186
As the legendary German writer
Goethe said,
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00:03:48,811 --> 00:03:51,940
"A country starts out
from a name and a flag,
70
00:03:52,023 --> 00:03:53,942
and it then becomes them,
71
00:03:54,025 --> 00:03:56,527
just as a man fulfills his destiny."
72
00:03:57,820 --> 00:03:59,989
I have cherished the ideal
73
00:04:00,073 --> 00:04:02,617
of a democratic and free society.
74
00:04:03,243 --> 00:04:07,455
It is an ideal
for which I am prepared to die.
75
00:04:08,039 --> 00:04:10,250
When Nelson Mandela
spoke those words,
76
00:04:10,333 --> 00:04:13,127
the South African flag
was four flags in one.
77
00:04:14,254 --> 00:04:19,509
The Union Jack and two Dutch colony flags,
all atop the former Dutch flag.
78
00:04:19,592 --> 00:04:21,761
They represented the country's colonizers.
79
00:04:21,844 --> 00:04:25,807
It was a unity
at the expense of the Black people.
80
00:04:25,890 --> 00:04:30,186
I was forced by the law to attend schools
81
00:04:30,270 --> 00:04:32,814
specifically designed for Black people.
82
00:04:33,523 --> 00:04:37,568
I could not go into the town
where white people live.
83
00:04:38,695 --> 00:04:42,991
I remember being given that flag
as a young child.
84
00:04:43,574 --> 00:04:47,287
When I later understood
that I was forced to wave
85
00:04:47,370 --> 00:04:50,289
a symbol of my own oppression,
86
00:04:50,373 --> 00:04:53,126
it was really something that was...
87
00:04:54,544 --> 00:04:55,837
repulsive.
88
00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,633
You start realizing that
something has to change here.
89
00:05:01,217 --> 00:05:03,594
The African National Congress,
or ANC,
90
00:05:03,678 --> 00:05:05,888
was fighting for that change.
91
00:05:05,972 --> 00:05:08,599
But at one protest in 1960,
92
00:05:08,683 --> 00:05:12,770
the police opened fire,
killing 69 unarmed demonstrators,
93
00:05:12,854 --> 00:05:15,940
in what came to be known
as the Sharpeville massacre.
94
00:05:16,816 --> 00:05:19,694
In the aftermath,
the government banned the ANC.
95
00:05:20,695 --> 00:05:24,365
A few years later, they sentenced
one of its leaders, Nelson Mandela,
96
00:05:24,449 --> 00:05:25,992
to life in prison.
97
00:05:27,201 --> 00:05:30,038
They also banned the ANC's flag.
98
00:05:30,121 --> 00:05:34,000
The design of that flag is a story
that's traveled the world and back.
99
00:05:34,751 --> 00:05:38,671
Starting in Ethiopia, the only African
country that was never colonized
100
00:05:38,755 --> 00:05:41,299
and the first to adopt a national flag.
101
00:05:41,966 --> 00:05:43,843
Over the years, their flag changed,
102
00:05:43,926 --> 00:05:46,888
as power shifted hands
from one monarch to another,
103
00:05:48,264 --> 00:05:50,016
to communist rule,
104
00:05:50,099 --> 00:05:51,351
to a republic.
105
00:05:52,352 --> 00:05:56,105
But outside Ethiopia,
the flag represented African liberation.
106
00:05:56,898 --> 00:05:59,567
As African countries
broke free from colonialism
107
00:05:59,650 --> 00:06:01,444
and created their own flags,
108
00:06:01,527 --> 00:06:03,780
many of them looked to Ethiopia's.
109
00:06:04,364 --> 00:06:07,158
And Ethiopia inspired another flag, too.
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00:06:08,242 --> 00:06:11,287
In the 1920s,
on the other side of the world,
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00:06:11,371 --> 00:06:12,789
this was a popular song.
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00:06:12,872 --> 00:06:18,086
♪ Every race has a flag but the coon ♪
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00:06:18,836 --> 00:06:21,547
When Jamaican activist
Marcus Garvey heard it,
114
00:06:21,631 --> 00:06:23,633
enraged by the racist lyric,
115
00:06:23,716 --> 00:06:25,802
he decided to create a flag,
116
00:06:25,885 --> 00:06:28,388
and he turned to Ethiopia's
for inspiration,
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00:06:28,471 --> 00:06:32,016
swapping the yellow for black
to represent the African people
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00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:34,685
who the slave trade
had displaced around the world.
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00:06:35,353 --> 00:06:37,647
He called it the Pan-African flag.
120
00:06:38,314 --> 00:06:42,068
"Show me the race or the nation
without a flag," he said,
121
00:06:42,151 --> 00:06:45,446
"and I will show you
a race of people without any pride."
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00:06:46,447 --> 00:06:49,784
A few years later,
Garvey's flag inspired the ANC
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00:06:49,867 --> 00:06:51,661
when they designed their own.
124
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:59,502
In 1990, Mandela was freed
after 27 years in prison.
125
00:07:00,711 --> 00:07:03,214
Negotiations began to end apartheid,
126
00:07:03,297 --> 00:07:06,592
and the country held
its first fair and free election.
127
00:07:07,385 --> 00:07:09,303
On the day of the election,
128
00:07:09,387 --> 00:07:12,181
I was able to cast a vote
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00:07:12,265 --> 00:07:14,851
for the first time in my life.
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00:07:16,602 --> 00:07:21,649
It was an emotional
and near-magical experience.
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00:07:23,693 --> 00:07:26,487
On the day that we were allowed to vote,
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00:07:26,571 --> 00:07:28,823
this flag was also flown.
133
00:07:30,867 --> 00:07:34,787
The new South African flag
was a combination of the old flag
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00:07:34,871 --> 00:07:36,706
and the ANC flag.
135
00:07:36,789 --> 00:07:38,749
It was a symbol of unity.
136
00:07:38,833 --> 00:07:41,544
It gave me the opportunity
137
00:07:41,627 --> 00:07:44,005
to identify with my own country.
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00:07:46,507 --> 00:07:49,677
Flags have a unique power
to unify and stir loyalty,
139
00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,555
and for governments,
that's a powerful tool.
140
00:07:53,222 --> 00:07:56,267
There's a reason some countries
mandate flags in schools.
141
00:07:56,350 --> 00:08:00,146
And in more than 60 countries,
if you desecrate your national flag,
142
00:08:00,229 --> 00:08:02,899
you can face fines or even prison time.
143
00:08:04,358 --> 00:08:06,277
Many also have elaborate flag codes,
144
00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,905
carefully detailing
how the flag should be handled,
145
00:08:08,988 --> 00:08:13,034
treating them with a reverence
usually reserved for religious sacraments.
146
00:08:16,204 --> 00:08:17,955
It's a type of propaganda,
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00:08:18,039 --> 00:08:21,501
in that you're promoting
a vision of something.
148
00:08:21,584 --> 00:08:25,213
And no one understood that better
than Adolf Hitler.
149
00:08:25,838 --> 00:08:27,256
And the German Führer.
150
00:08:31,010 --> 00:08:35,306
Adolf Hitler recognized
after the First World War
151
00:08:35,389 --> 00:08:38,309
and the disillusionment
of the German people
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00:08:38,392 --> 00:08:41,354
that a symbol could be used
153
00:08:41,437 --> 00:08:44,440
to get a group to coalesce around,
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00:08:44,524 --> 00:08:47,235
that gave them
a vision of a better future.
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00:08:47,902 --> 00:08:50,655
Before coming to power,
Hitler worked for the education
156
00:08:50,738 --> 00:08:52,907
and propaganda department of the military,
157
00:08:52,990 --> 00:08:55,785
where he learned the art
of influencing the masses.
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00:08:55,868 --> 00:08:58,037
In his autobiography Mein Kampf,
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00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,540
Hitler wrote that "A striking emblem
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00:09:00,623 --> 00:09:03,834
may be the first cause
of awakening interest in a movement."
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00:09:04,377 --> 00:09:08,673
The Nazi flag
had the power to inspire fear,
162
00:09:08,756 --> 00:09:13,052
but it also had the power
to inspire exhilaration.
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00:09:14,262 --> 00:09:16,847
Hitler even created a brand guide
164
00:09:16,931 --> 00:09:18,975
that ran over 500 pages.
165
00:09:19,058 --> 00:09:21,185
And one of his first decrees as Chancellor
166
00:09:21,269 --> 00:09:24,939
was banning the old flag
and instituting the Nazi one.
167
00:09:25,022 --> 00:09:27,650
Then he banned Jews from flying it.
168
00:09:28,401 --> 00:09:30,486
While flags create an "us,"
169
00:09:31,070 --> 00:09:32,530
they can also create a "them."
170
00:09:33,197 --> 00:09:35,574
And they've played that role
throughout history.
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00:09:36,284 --> 00:09:38,828
As the saying goes,
the states made war,
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00:09:38,911 --> 00:09:40,788
and war made the state.
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00:09:40,871 --> 00:09:44,750
Flags were used to rally citizens
to enlist around the world.
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00:09:44,834 --> 00:09:46,627
And they became a solemn emblem
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00:09:46,711 --> 00:09:48,546
of the soldier's sacrifice.
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00:09:48,629 --> 00:09:51,257
And that's certainly true
of the American flag.
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00:09:52,508 --> 00:09:56,929
The cult of the American flag
arose in the 19th century
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00:09:57,013 --> 00:10:00,600
to encourage a culture of patriotism.
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00:10:00,683 --> 00:10:03,311
It was the first country to have
180
00:10:03,394 --> 00:10:04,854
a pledge to the flag,
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00:10:04,937 --> 00:10:06,981
a flag day, a flag week.
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00:10:09,275 --> 00:10:12,111
But the Vietnam war
marked a turning point.
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00:10:14,572 --> 00:10:17,825
As the anti-war movement grew,
the flag became politicized,
184
00:10:17,908 --> 00:10:20,828
representing two different visions
of America.
185
00:10:20,911 --> 00:10:22,622
And each side wore it differently.
186
00:10:23,831 --> 00:10:27,376
The anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman
wore an American flag shirt
187
00:10:28,586 --> 00:10:32,923
and was charged with desecration
under a new flag protection law.
188
00:10:33,007 --> 00:10:35,676
While President Nixon,
who prolonged the Vietnam war,
189
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:37,261
also started wearing the flag.
190
00:10:38,137 --> 00:10:39,055
As a pin.
191
00:10:39,597 --> 00:10:42,767
And though that law was struck down,
the divide stayed
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00:10:42,850 --> 00:10:45,186
as America turned to new threats.
193
00:10:45,269 --> 00:10:48,939
Fidel Castro is exporting
revolutions in our own backyard.
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00:10:49,023 --> 00:10:51,525
An informed patriotism
is what we want.
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00:10:52,109 --> 00:10:54,153
Let's start with some basics.
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00:10:54,236 --> 00:10:56,489
More attention to American history
197
00:10:56,572 --> 00:10:59,367
and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.
198
00:10:59,450 --> 00:11:02,745
Suddenly, with Reagan saying
everybody had to be patriotic
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00:11:02,828 --> 00:11:07,375
and pro-American, be enthusiastic
about the wars it was going to fight,
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00:11:07,458 --> 00:11:10,795
you either got with that or you didn't.
And I didn't.
201
00:11:10,878 --> 00:11:14,423
I grew up a middle-class Black kid
on the South Side of Chicago.
202
00:11:14,507 --> 00:11:16,801
Chicago's a very segregated city.
203
00:11:16,884 --> 00:11:20,513
From your earliest age, when the country
is telling you you do not belong here,
204
00:11:20,596 --> 00:11:24,725
the founding fathers never thought of you
as being a citizen of this country,
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00:11:24,809 --> 00:11:28,104
you don't feel like you're part of it,
and so I never did.
206
00:11:28,813 --> 00:11:30,940
In 1988, I made the installation
207
00:11:31,023 --> 00:11:33,192
What Is the Proper Way
To Display a US Flag?
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00:11:33,776 --> 00:11:36,904
There's a three-by-five-foot flag
on the ground.
209
00:11:36,987 --> 00:11:41,033
And above the flag was a notebook,
where visitors could leave comments.
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00:11:41,659 --> 00:11:44,036
You could stand
either next to it or on it.
211
00:11:48,416 --> 00:11:51,544
"You're disgracing everyone in America
by placing the flag on the floor."
212
00:11:52,169 --> 00:11:54,171
"This is the ultimate form of patriotism."
213
00:11:54,797 --> 00:11:56,757
"You should be executed for high treason."
214
00:11:56,841 --> 00:11:58,551
There are a couple others.
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00:11:58,634 --> 00:12:02,346
"I'm a German girl. If we Germans
would admire our flag as you all do,
216
00:12:02,430 --> 00:12:04,432
we would be called Nazis again.
217
00:12:04,515 --> 00:12:07,184
I think you do have
too much trouble about this flag."
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00:12:07,935 --> 00:12:10,646
Thousands protested
in front of Scott's exhibit.
219
00:12:11,188 --> 00:12:12,857
The Senate responded too,
220
00:12:12,940 --> 00:12:15,651
voting to ban the display
of the flag on the ground.
221
00:12:15,735 --> 00:12:19,113
Later that year, Congress passed
a new Flag Protection Act,
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00:12:19,196 --> 00:12:22,908
making the desecration of the flag
a crime in America once again.
223
00:12:22,992 --> 00:12:26,245
Support for the First Amendment
need not extend
224
00:12:26,328 --> 00:12:28,289
to desecration of the American flag.
225
00:12:28,372 --> 00:12:32,209
That is a national symbol of unity.
226
00:12:32,293 --> 00:12:36,714
We need unity in this country.
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00:12:36,797 --> 00:12:39,133
Symbols are important.
228
00:12:39,884 --> 00:12:42,720
Americans who want
to burn the American flag
229
00:12:42,803 --> 00:12:46,307
should consider
moving to Iran, China, or Cuba,
230
00:12:46,390 --> 00:12:50,770
where burning the American flag
is not only legal, but encouraged.
231
00:12:50,853 --> 00:12:54,148
We felt that here was
this sort of dying empire
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00:12:54,231 --> 00:12:56,817
that was desperately
clutching at its symbols,
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00:12:56,901 --> 00:12:59,028
trying to suppress
free speech and dissent.
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00:12:59,612 --> 00:13:01,697
The Monday after
the law went into effect,
235
00:13:01,781 --> 00:13:05,493
Dread and three friends
went to the steps of the US Capitol,
236
00:13:05,576 --> 00:13:08,454
took out flags and set them on fire.
237
00:13:09,121 --> 00:13:12,541
We were instantly arrested,
and then it went to the Supreme Court.
238
00:13:12,625 --> 00:13:14,335
The potential is
for causing a riot.
239
00:13:14,418 --> 00:13:17,880
Whenever somebody does something
like this to the flag, people get mad.
240
00:13:17,963 --> 00:13:22,301
Justice Scalia, once people are
compelled to respect a political symbol,
241
00:13:22,384 --> 00:13:26,055
their respect for the flag
is quite meaningless.
242
00:13:26,138 --> 00:13:28,057
It was a landmark decision.
243
00:13:28,140 --> 00:13:30,976
Today, the US Supreme Court
ruled that burning the flag...
244
00:13:31,060 --> 00:13:33,687
...is a right protected
by the First Amendment.
245
00:13:33,771 --> 00:13:37,191
...constitutional right to free speech.
The ruling was five to four.
246
00:13:37,274 --> 00:13:39,360
Flag burning is effective,
247
00:13:39,443 --> 00:13:42,321
in part because, regardless
of what language people speak,
248
00:13:42,404 --> 00:13:45,115
whether they're in South Korea,
whether they're in China,
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00:13:45,199 --> 00:13:47,993
they can understand
that this is political dissent.
250
00:13:50,037 --> 00:13:51,789
Since that law was overturned,
251
00:13:51,872 --> 00:13:55,793
the US flag has only become
more omnipresent.
252
00:13:55,876 --> 00:13:58,921
In one survey, six in ten Americans said
253
00:13:59,004 --> 00:14:02,049
they displayed the flag
either at home, at their office,
254
00:14:02,132 --> 00:14:03,884
or on their car.
255
00:14:03,968 --> 00:14:06,053
A culture of patriotism
256
00:14:06,136 --> 00:14:08,973
can be a shield of protection
257
00:14:09,056 --> 00:14:12,852
against a perceived or very real enemy.
258
00:14:22,403 --> 00:14:24,905
After 9/11, three things happened.
259
00:14:25,573 --> 00:14:26,991
People went to church,
260
00:14:27,658 --> 00:14:29,034
they gave blood,
261
00:14:29,118 --> 00:14:30,411
and they bought a flag.
262
00:14:31,036 --> 00:14:35,875
Walmart reportedly sold
116,000 flags on September 11th
263
00:14:35,958 --> 00:14:38,627
and 250,000 the next day,
264
00:14:38,711 --> 00:14:42,339
more than 20 times the amount
sold on those days the year before.
265
00:14:42,965 --> 00:14:46,886
And George W. Bush and his aides
donned flag pins.
266
00:14:46,969 --> 00:14:50,431
While our flag waving goes up after 9/11,
267
00:14:50,514 --> 00:14:52,725
the country might have taken actions
268
00:14:52,808 --> 00:14:55,686
that were contrary to the perceived values
269
00:14:55,769 --> 00:14:57,771
of what the flag represented.
270
00:14:58,689 --> 00:15:02,067
Hate crimes against Muslims
spiked in 2001,
271
00:15:02,151 --> 00:15:04,570
16 times what it had been the year before.
272
00:15:05,154 --> 00:15:07,990
And a New Yorker cover
from November of that year
273
00:15:08,073 --> 00:15:11,994
depicted a multitude of flags,
as a kind of shield for minorities
274
00:15:12,077 --> 00:15:14,705
in a country
that questioned their patriotism.
275
00:15:16,081 --> 00:15:19,335
Six years later,
a junior senator from Illinois
276
00:15:19,418 --> 00:15:21,920
announced he was running for president.
277
00:15:22,004 --> 00:15:24,465
I stand before you today to announce
278
00:15:25,132 --> 00:15:28,177
-my candidacy for president...
279
00:15:28,260 --> 00:15:30,471
And he chose not
to wear a flag pin.
280
00:15:30,554 --> 00:15:34,934
I decided I won't wear
that pin on my chest.
281
00:15:35,017 --> 00:15:37,478
Instead, I'm gonna try to tell
the American people
282
00:15:37,561 --> 00:15:39,772
what I believe
will make this country great.
283
00:15:39,855 --> 00:15:42,566
Hopefully, that will be a testimony
to my patriotism.
284
00:15:42,650 --> 00:15:43,943
It didn't go over well.
285
00:15:44,026 --> 00:15:46,862
...case in point, something of a controversy
that has erupted
286
00:15:46,945 --> 00:15:48,864
involving Democratic Senator Barack Obama.
287
00:15:48,948 --> 00:15:53,410
Everybody wears them, from a mayor,
to members of Congress, to the president.
288
00:15:53,494 --> 00:15:56,330
It's curious that there's a guy
that doesn't want to do it.
289
00:15:56,413 --> 00:15:59,667
I don’t understand liberal logic.
They just hate the flag.
290
00:16:00,334 --> 00:16:03,671
After the backlash,
Obama started wearing a flag pin.
291
00:16:05,047 --> 00:16:09,134
And then America elected a president
who had no issue embracing the flag.
292
00:16:09,885 --> 00:16:11,679
-Do we love our American flag?
293
00:16:11,762 --> 00:16:14,390
We believe that children should be taught
294
00:16:14,473 --> 00:16:18,811
to always respect our great American flag.
295
00:16:18,894 --> 00:16:21,021
If you burn the American flag,
296
00:16:21,105 --> 00:16:23,399
you go to jail for one year.
297
00:16:23,482 --> 00:16:24,608
One year.
298
00:16:25,901 --> 00:16:29,905
Trump rallied millions around
a vision of America that was under attack.
299
00:16:29,988 --> 00:16:31,115
From the outside...
300
00:16:31,198 --> 00:16:32,199
Build that wall!
301
00:16:32,282 --> 00:16:33,367
...and within.
302
00:16:33,450 --> 00:16:35,911
Our nation has been gripped
303
00:16:35,995 --> 00:16:37,913
by professional anarchists,
304
00:16:37,997 --> 00:16:41,583
arsonists, looters,
criminals, rioters, Antifa.
305
00:16:41,667 --> 00:16:44,878
Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!
306
00:16:44,962 --> 00:16:48,007
Which inspired some of them
to wave other flags.
307
00:16:49,591 --> 00:16:51,802
In January 2021,
308
00:16:51,885 --> 00:16:54,388
rioters stormed the US Capitol,
309
00:16:54,471 --> 00:16:56,515
and flags were everywhere.
310
00:16:57,099 --> 00:17:01,103
There were a lot of Trump flags
and right-wing militia flags.
311
00:17:01,186 --> 00:17:02,730
The flag of Kekistan,
312
00:17:02,813 --> 00:17:05,983
a made-up alt-right country
based on a Nazi war flag.
313
00:17:06,567 --> 00:17:10,738
And these yellow flags that were a protest
symbol from the American Revolution.
314
00:17:11,321 --> 00:17:14,366
And Confederate flags,
which represent the southern slave states
315
00:17:14,450 --> 00:17:16,577
that tried to secede in the Civil War.
316
00:17:17,619 --> 00:17:20,497
But this actually wasn't
the flag of the Confederacy.
317
00:17:21,123 --> 00:17:22,040
This was.
318
00:17:22,708 --> 00:17:25,461
This was just the battle flag
of the North Virginia Army,
319
00:17:26,003 --> 00:17:27,963
but it emerged as a prominent symbol
320
00:17:28,047 --> 00:17:32,009
during the civil rights movement
by segregationists, the KKK,
321
00:17:32,092 --> 00:17:35,721
and even some states, which claimed
it represented southern heritage.
322
00:17:36,805 --> 00:17:39,683
But its continued use
by white supremacists
323
00:17:39,767 --> 00:17:43,520
has prompted organizations to ban them
and states to take them down.
324
00:17:47,941 --> 00:17:51,945
Then there were rioters
that waved another, newer flag.
325
00:17:52,029 --> 00:17:54,615
The symbol of a thin blue line
326
00:17:54,698 --> 00:17:57,659
traces back to the Crimean War
in the 19th century.
327
00:17:58,243 --> 00:18:02,956
It started with the red line
of British soldiers
328
00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,125
going out to fight the enemy.
329
00:18:05,209 --> 00:18:07,961
By the 1920s,
police forces in America
330
00:18:08,045 --> 00:18:11,131
had adapted the phrase
to the color of their uniforms
331
00:18:11,215 --> 00:18:12,966
and they eventually made it an emblem.
332
00:18:14,092 --> 00:18:16,845
The blue line
that's separating the black halves.
333
00:18:17,429 --> 00:18:20,390
The significance is
it's supposed to protect people.
334
00:18:20,474 --> 00:18:24,019
If you took those officers off the
front line, there'd be complete chaos.
335
00:18:24,686 --> 00:18:27,564
But outside police forces,
this emblem wasn't well-known.
336
00:18:27,648 --> 00:18:30,567
Our streets! Our streets!
337
00:18:30,651 --> 00:18:32,653
-What do we want?
-Justice!
338
00:18:33,278 --> 00:18:36,448
In 2013,
the Black Lives Matter movement began.
339
00:18:36,990 --> 00:18:40,494
We had the incident
with Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown,
340
00:18:40,577 --> 00:18:43,080
Eric Garner. Just one after the other.
341
00:18:43,163 --> 00:18:45,332
Let's have a moment of silence...
342
00:18:45,415 --> 00:18:47,459
I think officers were sick and tired
343
00:18:47,543 --> 00:18:50,045
of every day being on the front page
of the paper or the news,
344
00:18:50,129 --> 00:18:52,548
being told that they were
the worst things ever.
345
00:18:53,132 --> 00:18:56,510
And in 2014, officers Rafael Ramos
and Wenjian Liu were killed.
346
00:18:57,219 --> 00:19:01,890
That is the motivation of why we created
Blue Lives Matter NYC.
347
00:19:01,974 --> 00:19:03,892
And a new symbol emerged.
348
00:19:03,976 --> 00:19:07,563
The thin blue line
combined with an American flag.
349
00:19:07,646 --> 00:19:09,731
To me,
the blue line American flag
350
00:19:09,815 --> 00:19:13,402
gives you a reason to remember
why you put that uniform on every day.
351
00:19:14,444 --> 00:19:17,739
But some people embrace that flag
for different reasons.
352
00:19:18,407 --> 00:19:22,119
In 2017,
far-right extremists were planning a rally
353
00:19:22,828 --> 00:19:25,747
and they had a chat room dedicated
to what flags they would wave.
354
00:19:26,540 --> 00:19:29,251
One person proposed
the thin blue line flag,
355
00:19:29,334 --> 00:19:31,128
and another agreed.
356
00:19:31,211 --> 00:19:34,214
"No one can claim they're unpatriotic,"
he wrote.
357
00:19:34,298 --> 00:19:37,342
"Not to mention I can put one
outside my house or on my bumper
358
00:19:37,426 --> 00:19:39,678
without being investigated
for a hate crime."
359
00:19:40,888 --> 00:19:44,057
That August, when they took
to the streets in Charlottesville,
360
00:19:44,141 --> 00:19:45,934
the images shocked the country.
361
00:19:46,018 --> 00:19:48,687
Jews will not replace us!
362
00:19:48,770 --> 00:19:51,440
To see white supremacists
using a blue line flag
363
00:19:51,523 --> 00:19:53,150
is a complete misuse, a disgrace.
364
00:19:53,233 --> 00:19:56,945
It's meant to be something that
reminds you of someone that was killed,
365
00:19:57,029 --> 00:20:00,616
not something's that gonna go out there
and cause people harm or damage.
366
00:20:00,699 --> 00:20:02,951
It is the furthest thing
from being racist.
367
00:20:04,453 --> 00:20:06,496
But that's not
how everyone saw it.
368
00:20:07,372 --> 00:20:10,042
I'm one of the only kids of color
at my school.
369
00:20:10,834 --> 00:20:13,587
The flag being at my school
represented, to me, at least,
370
00:20:13,670 --> 00:20:17,633
that people didn't care about
the lives lost at the hands of police.
371
00:20:18,216 --> 00:20:20,385
That made me feel just scared.
372
00:20:20,469 --> 00:20:22,846
It made me feel uncomfortable.
373
00:20:22,930 --> 00:20:24,890
I didn't want to go to school.
374
00:20:25,515 --> 00:20:28,602
Schools across the country
have banned the thin blue line flag,
375
00:20:28,685 --> 00:20:31,313
including Maxwell's school
in Upstate New York.
376
00:20:31,396 --> 00:20:33,607
Students are seeing
the symbol as, quote,
377
00:20:33,690 --> 00:20:35,025
"threatening by nature."
378
00:20:35,525 --> 00:20:38,904
The superintendent believes
the thin blue line is political.
379
00:20:38,987 --> 00:20:41,823
What happened afterwards
was that the community
380
00:20:41,907 --> 00:20:45,786
just overnight started putting up
Blue Lives Matter flags.
381
00:20:45,869 --> 00:20:49,331
They were putting it on their lawns,
in their store windows.
382
00:20:49,414 --> 00:20:50,832
It was shocking.
383
00:20:50,916 --> 00:20:53,001
It was right next to the store.
384
00:20:53,085 --> 00:20:57,047
I just thought I wouldn't go
to that place anymore. I'd...
385
00:20:58,465 --> 00:20:59,675
I'm sorry.
386
00:21:00,842 --> 00:21:02,844
This is heartbreaking for me.
387
00:21:03,595 --> 00:21:04,930
It really is.
388
00:21:06,056 --> 00:21:09,351
We support fallen officers,
we support our police.
389
00:21:09,434 --> 00:21:12,688
But I have heard this my entire life.
390
00:21:12,771 --> 00:21:14,856
"Oh, the Confederate flag
doesn't mean that."
391
00:21:14,940 --> 00:21:17,234
"Oh, separate schools are okay."
392
00:21:17,734 --> 00:21:19,152
Racism isn't dying out.
393
00:21:19,236 --> 00:21:21,571
It's just adapting in the current day.
394
00:21:21,655 --> 00:21:23,907
With something like a flag,
395
00:21:23,991 --> 00:21:26,994
people don't think
about multilevel meaning.
396
00:21:27,077 --> 00:21:29,663
They say,
"It means what I think it means."
397
00:21:29,746 --> 00:21:31,957
We should think about flags
398
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,876
for how they trigger reactions in people.
399
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:39,881
Flags are a barometer
of where we are as a society.
400
00:21:40,465 --> 00:21:45,303
When our nation's fundamentals
of democracy are being attacked,
401
00:21:45,387 --> 00:21:48,098
people do stand behind their symbols.
402
00:21:49,016 --> 00:21:51,059
What's surprising is finding out
403
00:21:51,143 --> 00:21:54,104
which symbols exactly
people are standing behind.
404
00:21:54,855 --> 00:21:58,150
In South Africa,
many might say the same thing.
405
00:21:58,692 --> 00:22:01,028
There was a demonstration
406
00:22:01,111 --> 00:22:04,990
by predominantly white
right-wing movements
407
00:22:05,073 --> 00:22:08,327
where the old flag was shown.
408
00:22:08,410 --> 00:22:13,165
Sparking a national debate
and, in 2019, a historic court case.
409
00:22:13,248 --> 00:22:16,877
The Nelson Mandela Foundation
has asked a court to ban it,
410
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,005
saying it represents hate
and racial discrimination.
411
00:22:20,088 --> 00:22:21,798
It's too much of a stretch to argue
412
00:22:21,882 --> 00:22:24,301
that it amounts to hate speech
to display the flag.
413
00:22:24,384 --> 00:22:25,802
But ultimately,
414
00:22:25,886 --> 00:22:28,221
Judge Mojapelo’s decision was clear.
415
00:22:28,305 --> 00:22:33,685
Any display of the old flag
constitutes hate speech
416
00:22:33,769 --> 00:22:38,065
in terms of section 10
of the Equality Act.
417
00:22:38,148 --> 00:22:43,236
Our children can sit in the museum,
they can study, they can look at it.
418
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,907
But it does not have to be
flown in the face
419
00:22:46,990 --> 00:22:49,368
of those to whom it is hurtful.
420
00:22:52,287 --> 00:22:55,707
Flags are not cloths which are silent.
421
00:22:55,791 --> 00:22:58,335
It reflects our values.
422
00:22:58,418 --> 00:23:01,505
It reflects our aspirations.
423
00:23:01,588 --> 00:23:06,468
Back in 1995,
South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup.
424
00:23:06,551 --> 00:23:08,470
It was the first major sporting event
425
00:23:08,553 --> 00:23:11,264
held in the country
since the end of apartheid.
426
00:23:12,432 --> 00:23:15,811
And in a stunning turn, South Africa won.
427
00:23:18,021 --> 00:23:21,566
Even the commentators recognized
it was more than a game.
428
00:23:21,650 --> 00:23:24,945
A wonderful moment
for the whole of South Africa.
429
00:23:25,779 --> 00:23:28,782
Nelson Mandela is cheering along.
430
00:23:29,658 --> 00:23:31,034
A sea of flags.
431
00:23:31,118 --> 00:23:35,288
Embracing a predominantly white team,
432
00:23:35,372 --> 00:23:40,502
Nelson Mandela walked onto that pitch
to say under this flag,
433
00:23:40,585 --> 00:23:42,462
we can all feel united.
434
00:23:43,213 --> 00:23:48,343
And be as inclusive
as the flag calls upon us to be.
435
00:23:50,679 --> 00:23:53,056
The flag is a blank projecting screen,
436
00:23:53,140 --> 00:23:55,308
onto which everybody can project
437
00:23:55,392 --> 00:23:58,437
their own ideals,
their hopes, and their fears.
438
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:00,397
Who owns patriotism?
439
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,983
Who speaks for the nation?
440
00:24:03,066 --> 00:24:08,280
Who defines our identity
and what do we identify with?
441
00:24:08,363 --> 00:24:10,073
Whose streets? Our streets!
442
00:24:10,157 --> 00:24:14,536
We did not overnight
become an equal society.
443
00:24:15,579 --> 00:24:19,457
We developed to what the flags represent.