Now that the Gadsen Flag is a symbol of racism I predict that any symbol used to spread the ideas of liberty will likewise be "discovered" to be racist or its weaker cousin sexist.
If we're to be treated as racists, what have we to lose by actually being racists? That's an honest question.
The solution is to take the user of a symbol at their word for its meaning. You can tell them that the symbol means something else to you, but your usage does not predict or predicate theirs.
Never mind that the Gadsen flags display is deliberate political speech on the part of the person displaying it. The stated reason we have the 1st amendment is about such speech, all the other reasons for freedom of speech are from the penumbras that virtually any speech or expression can be political so we allow everything.
If we're to be treated as racists, what have we to lose by actually being racists? That's an honest question.
The solution is to take the user of a symbol at their word for its meaning. You can tell them that the symbol means something else to you, but your usage does not predict or predicate theirs.
Never mind that the Gadsen flags display is deliberate political speech on the part of the person displaying it. The stated reason we have the 1st amendment is about such speech, all the other reasons for freedom of speech are from the penumbras that virtually any speech or expression can be political so we allow everything.