Take Our Flag Back

Stars and Stripes: Symbols of Racism and Bigotry

The American Flag Shouldn’t Represent Those Views

Somebody, please tell me how we ended up here. I’m fed up with feeling disgusted when I see our American flag displayed in such a way. Especially next to that traitorous Confederate flag. It’s tacky and classless.

It feels as though half or more of my grade school classmates took the Pledge of Allegiance a bit too seriously back in the early 80s. It never used to remind me of divisiveness and hate. Remember that morning ritual every day at school?

“I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America. And to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

That was from memory, I didn’t even Google it. When you repeat it over a couple of thousand times during your public school career, it’s easy to remember. For many, it has not only stuck but brainwashed them as well.

We drive around our cities and towns and see the American flag disrespectfully attached in some odd way to a car or truck, flapping in the breeze. They’re easy to spot in 2024. I see them frequently in the conservative red state I live in.

They often come in pairs. They fly from a giant, jacked-up pickup trucks. Sometimes they’re paired with a Confederate flag, a “Trump 2024” flag, or a “Let’s Go Brandon” flag. I’ve seen a few with several of these flags.

When I drive around my community, I see people flying these flags in front of their homes. I’ve seen the yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” ones, flapping above or below the American flag. Sometimes there’s a black, white, and blue “Police Lives Matter” flags. So many flags.

It’s horrible to see someone flying an American flag next to these others on their truck or homes and feel disgusted by it. Racism and bigotry are common in my state. People have made a mockery of the American flag.

Before the rise of Donald Trump, I never questioned someone’s morals or views if I saw an American flag flying in front of their home. These days, I am concerned about those people and their belief systems. And it’s not just the blind patriotism or the allegiance to Donald Trump.

Some of these people have proven that they do not like people of differing races. Many of them don’t approve of members of the LGBTQ community and vote to take rights from the LGBTQ community. That’s one flag they are not fans of. This is a problem for me.

My Bride and two of my children have mixed-race backgrounds. They have Vietnamese ancestry and they’ve had a couple of people call them racial slurs in public. Of course, this has never happened when I’ve been with them because racists and bigots are cowards.

My youngest daughter is gay. She’s been out for six years. My radar is always up around my immediate family in public. Especially if I’m near anyone driving a vehicle with an American flag and those other deplorable flags flying with it.

Our country has become so willfully ignorant. The division between the MAGA crowd and the rest of us who detest their racism, bigotry, sexism, and homophobia is obvious. The American flag is stuck in the middle of all of this nonsense.

We should be proud of our country, and the symbols that represent it. The American flag was once respected, admired, and welcoming to all people. Many immigrants have arrived in our country over the years and seen the stars and stripes, filling them with a sense of excitement and pride.

It doesn’t feel as though our flag stands for acceptance of foreigners anymore. Most people don’t feel loved and respected when they see the flag flying from a MAGA truck or on people’s homes in our country. Some feel anger and bitterness, and sense racism and bigotry when they see it.

This has to end.

Last year, when the news spread of the release of Brittney Griner, a professional women’s basketball player. She’d been held prisoner in Russia for ten months because she had a couple of marijuana carts in her luggage. She had been sentenced to 9 years in a Russian penal colony.

I read so much ignorance and racist rhetoric that day on social media from people living here in my home state about her release. It was shameful and appalling. Never mind that she was somebody’s child. Or wife.

Brittney Griner is an American citizen with a family. Because she’s spoken out against our country’s handling of racism and bigotry, suddenly she’ had become the enemy. I heard several people say that she “hated” America.

I must have missed that news report. They said the same about LeBron because he stood up for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Brittney Griner is black, gay, and tattooed. The MAGA crowd doesn’t care about people who don’t support and prop up their ignorant, paranoid, beliefs. Their blind patriotism and support of the worst politicians get in the way of reality.

So add another flag or two to your pickup trucks. You can oppose the people who call out racism and bigotry and can see through Donald Trump’s fake patriotism while fleecing his supporters and donors. You can scream “FAKE NEWS!” and squawk as loud as you like about the liberal agenda you have played up in your mind.

We’ll still fight against your controlling agenda that targets minorities, women, and LGBTQ folk. We’ll stand with our marginalized brothers and sisters while protecting our loved ones who are part of those communities.

Keep the American flag off of your trucks and cars. We do not want to be reminded of your racist, bigoted views when we see the stars and bars flying in the wind. It’s time to take our flag back, as real American patriots.

© 2024 Jason Provencio. All rights reserved.