- Old Glory under attack.
There have been several incidents recently which would lead us to believe the American flag is under attack.
At UC, Irvine, the Student Government voted to eliminate all flags, including the Stars and Stripes, from outside of their building. This was done to make the offices more "culturally inclusive" for all students. Following this, 60 professors signed a letter supporting the flag ban claiming "US nationalism often contributes to racism and xenophobia." The decision to ban the flags was later overturned.
Last week, a group of judges told the Portsmouth County, VA, Sheriff to remove an American flag display from the court house. The flag was a special gift from the Portsmouth Fire Department.
A Texas school painted over an American flag-like mural on a school under construction in a new development. The reason? Red, white and blue were not approved colors in the subdivision where the school is being built.
In the recent photo showing President Obama leading the 50th anniversary march of Selma, not one American flag could be seen in the photo. This is in sharp contrast to the photos of the original 1965 march where the flag was highly visible.
Just this past weekend, protesters in Ferguson, MO, ripped an American flag in two and others stomped on it. In Virginia Beach, an American Flag was stolen from a restaurant, as well as from a community in Morgan Hill, CA.
Old Glory hasn't taken such a beating since 1968 when Yippies protested the Viet Nam War and the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Interestingly, the flag comes under attack in times of cultural crisis. Just as in 1968, the American people are very much divided along ideological lines with one side wanting to radically change the underpinnings of America, while another wishes to maintain the moral values from which the country was founded upon. One side wants to proudly wave the flag, the other is bent on desecrating it.
The question is why? The flag is a symbol of our country, not representative of a hate speech or sign of inequality, discrimination, or political correctness. It was originally designed to represent the unity of the states, and honor the original thirteen colonies.
However, some people now want us to be ashamed of our country through our flag. It is true that America is certainly not perfect, but then again what country is? Have we made mistakes? Certainly. Will we continue to do so? Undoubtedly. But we also have many more things to be proud of as a country, such as our freedoms and liberty, a land of opportunity and the free enterprise system. Soldiers and sailors have followed it into battle numerous times to defend this way of life. And finally, it is also a beacon of hope to the outside world.
No, we should not be ashamed of the American flag. We may be critical of some of our politicians and institutions, something we have only ourselves to blame for not taking them to task or voting. Instead, the flag is something we should take pride in, so that we may continue to disagree as well as work together, in good times as well as bad.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Copyright © 2015 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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