The Flag Is A Sacred Symbol — Respect It

It is becoming more crucial each and every day that Americans, especially young ones, learn the true value of the American flag.

Last year one of my classes was doing a research project on biographies of past presidents.  We were watching one of the slideshows, which was about President Bush. We got to the last few slides and there were some photos which were intended to be funny, but could have been seen as offensive, depending on your political views. Then there was the one that struck me as the most offensive. The student had chosen to place the American flag over President Bush’s middle finger with an image of him “giving the finger.” Many of my classmates laughed as this picture was shown, and if I remember correctly, it was the last slide. The teacher went back to talk about some of the other pictures and seemed to linger again on that one. I was not happy about this, being an American patriot. I didn’t speak up, because in my liberal school no one cares about standing up for the flag, Founding values, or respecting those kinds of things.  If they do they are also shy and quiet about it like me. I talked to the student who created the slideshow after class and asked why he thought that was okay to do. He said that the teacher had told him to cover the finger up with something.

That’s my problem. The teacher could have specifically told him what to cover it with, or asked him to choose a different picture, or at least block it out with black. But the teacher chose to let the student deal with it, and the student picked an American flag. It surprises me that a teacher these days would be so slack on such a thing, but then again, look what America is becoming!  Now, I can’t really say that it strictly violates the Flag Code,  but in my opinion it is unnecessary, offensive, and disrespectful.

On another, larger, more popular level, there is the disrespect shown to the flag by rapper Lil’ Wayne.  He chose to walk on a flag on the ground in one of his music videos. According to USA Today, “video footage showed the rapper…walking all over an American flag while shooting his new music video for God Bless Amerika in New Orleans.”  Many people were unhappy about this act of supposed free speech, whom some would say is instead unpatriotic.  In a 1989 case the Supreme Court ruled that burning a flag is constitutional under the 1^st Amendment.  Later the rapper explained but did not apologize for his behavior, saying that the video was unfinished:

“It was never my intention to desecrate the flag of the United States of America,” he said on Facebook. ”The clip that surfaced on the Internet was a camera trick clip that revealed that behind the American Flag was the Hoods of America. In the final edit of the video you will see the flag fall to reveal what is behind it but will never see it on the ground.”

- USA Today

I am totally a supporter of the First Amendment, don’t get me wrong. But to use your freedom of speech to stomp or walk on the flag doesn’t seem okay, appropriate, respectful, or necessary to me.  Additionally, it is against the flag code to do such a thing.

            §8. Respect for flag …

b.     The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise. …

e.     The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.

Additionally, regarding the flag itself, this website says, “The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.”  What bothers me is what the people who think this is okay, don’t understand. Soldiers have fought time and time again for this flag and for all it represents. To walk on the flag and let it touch the ground is something I feel they would never support. The flag is an image of freedom and hope to immigrants who come here. To step on it is to show disrespect and say that you don’t believe, love, and cherish all that America is supposed to offer. The flag represents more than a piece of cloth. It represents One Nation under God.

An analogy of stomping on the flag would be something as serious to Christians and those who believe in the Cross as burning the Cross or the Bible. To Muslims, the equivalent would be burning the Koran. These are all sacred symbols for many people, and to show disrespect to the item is to show disrespect to the people who cherish it.