PHOTO BY SAIGE GRIFFIN
BY ZACHARY PERROTTA
The red, white and blue flag: to patriots, it represents the land of the emancipated, the home of the brave that is the United States of America. However, there are those that view the U.S. as the land of enslavement and the home of the bigoted. Adherents of this worldview are now utilizing it as a pretext for disrespecting the U.S. flag.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick said.
There are two issues with taking this position: first, it is illicit to presume that the U.S. is a nation that, on the international stage, is especially terrible on the issue of basic human rights and, secondly, it is a flagrant insult to military personnel because the position inherently tarnishes their service.
The CIRI Human Rights Data Project, which uses information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights, qualifies why the U.S. is relatively proficient in terms of human rights when they show that the U.S. is the 38th best country in the world for human rights. Specifically rights which pertain to people of color, the group which Kaepernick claims is oppressed, are upheld to an extremely high extent relative to other countries.
For instance, on the Electoral Self-Determination index, which measures the extent to which the right to vote and have an influence in the selection of representatives is upheld, the U.S. is ranked 2nd worldwide, despite assertions that the right of people of color to vote is being suppressed by statewide voter ID laws.
Further, the Workers Rights Index, which measures the ability of workers to freely associate and collectively bargain, ranks the U.S. as 1st worldwide, despite claims that the collective bargaining rights of unions, which are composed of many minorities, are being trampled on.
Regardless, it should be conceded that it is the right of those who sit for the pledge to do so because it is an expression of their free speech, just as it is worth noting that the U.S. could do better in ensuring basic human rights.
However, the question is not about the ability to sit for the pledge, rather, it regards the morality of the decision, and the most prominent basis for the decision is lacking in basic ethics.
Does any of this mean that people must stand for the pledge because the U.S. is great? No. Does it mean that there isn’t room for improvement? No. Should people be proud of how far the U.S. has come, and of its flag by extension? Absolutely.
Regardless of the motivation behind those who refuse to pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag, they should note the direct impact that they are having on members of the military and their families.
“My heart is exploding, my lungs are without air, my blood is boiling, my body is shaking, and tears are running down my face,” the mother of a gold star veteran, who died in battle, explained.
“I am sitting in my living room looking outside at my American flag — flying at half staff,” she said. “My son’s body lay in a street after an [improvised explosive device] blew up the vehicle he was fighting in. His blood stains the sands of Afghanistan. He died protecting the ideals of the flag you refuse to respect.”
To be clear, the impact is not simply that Kaepernick and his supporters are making the defenders of this country along with their families experience trauma, but that they are delegitimizing the service of these individuals.
This mother just explained that her son fought for the flag and the country that it represents because of ideals which the flag, also, stands for and those who sit have the audacity to imply that the American flag stands for racism?
That doesn’t just mean that U.S. policies are racist; people who believe this are saying that U.S. veterans fought, and U.S. military personnel are fighting, willingly, to enforce racism and oppression.
If people still want to sit for the pledge of allegiance then they should be aware that they have every right to do so. Yet, they should also keep in mind that there is little to no moral backing behind doing so, they are actively disrespecting the country and military which allows for this very disrespect, and that they are implying that the military is an accessory to racism.
