Flag Discrimination
"Foreign-made American flags could soon be barred from Minnesota store shelves. The Minnesota House has passed a made-in-the-U-S-A requirement for flags sold in the state."
Read the full story from Minnesota Public Radio here, via Cafe Hayek.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, so wouldn't discrimination against flags made by people of foreign origin be against the law?
4 Comments:
My guess is that the answer to your question is no, since U.S. law applies only to U.S. citizens.
Technically, I think you are right, that our Civil Rights Act only protects U.S. citizens. But philosophically, is there any real significant distinction between somebody saying "No Mexicans allowed in this building," or "No Mexicans need apply for this job or apartment," and "No flags manufactured by Mexicans allowed in Minnesota?"
Professor Perry: As a world traveler, you have a global perspective, however, a lot of people don't think past the city they live in or possibly their country.
On the one hand, I believe our sense of nationalism and patriotism sometimes hinders good economic thought. However, on the other hand, how do you ask a nineteen-year-old soldier to lay down his life for his country unless he is very patriotic? Quite a paradox sometimes: Isn’t it?
The law may not be unconstitutional but it does violate the National Treatment provisions under Chapter 11 of NAFTA and Article III of the GATT.
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