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The ol' Red, White and Blue
What does it mean now?
 Cathy Kropp -- Staff Column
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As I read Joseph Palmersheim's article "Vigil stirs emotions" in the Sep.12th issue of the Chronicle I couldn't help but notice the mention of disgruntled attendees who were upset over the absence of the American flag. Now, I wasn't present at the vigil and of course cannot speak for all who attended, but I would like to share why I believe the flag was noticeably missing.
To some, the American flag stands for what our nation is supposed to represent: freedom, a country united, and open arms for all who enter its boundaries. The principles that I saw the red, white, and blue flying for after Sept. 11 sharply contrasted with these ideals. They were waved with a hostile "let's kick some ass" attitude and as a warning to all people of a certain ethnicity.
Now, before you protest this last statement let me say that I know some flags were flown with good intentions. But one person flying it with the message of hate is one too many for me.
My unwillingness to display the American flag after the attacks has little or nothing to do with my patriotism. It is a refusal due to the fact that it is a symbol that carries many meanings and therefore misconceptions with it. I am patriotic. I love the ideals that the flag was originally meant to represent. But it is hard for me to wave a flag that represents a country united when we are spouting ethnocentric views. And not only that, but threatening our fellow citizens based on the actions of a few terrorists whose only connection to them happens to be the color of their skin. It is hard for me to yell about freedom and wave my flag when our basic human right to privacy is being infringed upon and stripped away by our government after 9/11 "for our own security".
To futher help me explain my reservations I have come up with a crude example. Let's take a symbol that everyone recognizes...say, the peace sign. The obvious meaning of this circle and three lines is "harmony and goodwill". Now let's pretend that an extremist hate group is being formed and for unknown reasons decide that they will use the peace sign as their symbol; much as the nazis use the swastika to represent their views. So now, this symbol has two different meanings, both peace and hate. How many of us would be willing to continue to display our peace sign bumper sticker or wear a shirt with a peace sign? My guess is that many of us would stop due to the fact that although we ourselves may associate the symbol with peace, many others would see it as a support symbol for a hate group. So, just as many would refuse to display peace signs in my hypothetical example, I choose not to display the flag because what it means to me may be entirely different than what it means to someone else.
I respect the flag and the meaning I believe it carries, but I refuse to wave it until I can do so knowing that it means the same things to all of us: freedom and peace for everyone.
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