Capturing the Flag

Capturing the Flag

by Tom Coffin

When I was a lad growing up in St. Louis where it was common to have blizzards in winter, my brothers and I would build snow forts, amass a supply of snow balls, take a piece of cloth and affix it to a stick, call it our flag and place it firmly atop our fort. Other kids in the neighborhood would do the same. Then we would engage them in snowball fights to drive them from their forts and capture their flags while defending ours. The winner was the fort with the other side’s flag.

I think of that game whenever I witness our American flag being co-opted by groups comprised of faux patriots who embrace bigotry, racism, violence, who are anti-democracy, and who even support the overthrow of our Constitutional government—yet hypocritically sport the Flag of the United States on their vehicles or clothing as if their cause somehow represents the ideals the flag symbolizes. I have even witnessed those who display the American flag on one side of their pickup and the Confederate flag on the other, apparently oblivious to the contradiction.

This is a subliminal suggestion tactic, worthy of Orwell. Those who are intent on destroying our democracy and freedoms are presenting themselves as the defenders of democracy, freedom, and liberty. They literally wrap themselves with the flag as they storm the Capitol to overturn the results of a free election. They used a flagpole (with the flag still on it) to assault and attempt to murder security officers defending Congress as the mob of self-pronounced “patriots” tried to topple a duly elected president and replace him with an unelected dictator.

By now you see my point. We are besieged by a movement that is fundamentally opposed to our democratic principles, which desires to cancel (suppress) the voting rights of African-Americans, inculcate white supremacy as the centerpiece of our national governance model, utilize violence as a legitimate political tool, and categorize this agenda as being loyal to and upholding of all the principles they are actually trying to destroy. Thus they display the flag ubiquitously, to create the impression that the agenda has the endorsement of the Founders.

In my nearby town of Creswell in November of last year, there was a gathering of peaceful protestors aligned with Black Lives Matter, who were calling attention to the cause of ending excessive and deadly force utilized by police in numerous incidents against African-Americans. A contingent of white nationalists got wind of the gathering and arrived in force to disrupt the assembly. A number were armed, and the intimidation impeded and eventually ended the demonstration. (See https://www.eugeneweekly.com/2020/11/05/out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire/)

These armed counter-protestors also displayed the American flag, begging the question—do they think the First Amendment protecting speech is somehow cancelled or overridden by the existence of the Second Amendment? Not a stretch—a non-political assembly at a public park in Salem scattered when a group of armed militia folks arrived to occupy and patrol the area, intimidating the public to leave the park. (See https://www.thecentersquare.com/oregon/far-right-groups-hold-gun-rights-rally-in-oregon-park-threaten-media/article_71a0e616-aaf9-11eb-a215-7bc97cb46857.html)

After this unfortunate attempt to suppress speech in my neighborhood, I put a “Black Lives Matter” sign on my property next to the road I live on. It was stolen and destroyed. I guess I was lucky—I read reports that homeowners who displayed BLM signs in Portland and Redmond were not only vandalized, but met with threats. Ironically, the perpetrators claim to be “patriots” and wave the flag as if they were marching against the British in 1776, not their fellow citizens. Apparently their flag doesn’t include rights imbedded in not just the First Amendment, but a host of others including the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments as well. I am afraid their flag has been shrunk by ethnic cleansing.

There’s more—on the 4th of July this year, again in my nearby town of Creswell, we were treated to an unpermitted parade (the City had cancelled the usual festivities) down the middle of town with numerous trucks adorned with American flags and promoting the Proud Boys organization, who reportedly used the parade as a tool for recruiting additional members into their ranks.

The Proud Boys equate with white supremacy and are antithetical to democracy. Its members played a prominent role in organizing and participating in the 1/6/21 insurrection, an overt and violent attempt to overthrow our government. To feature them in a parade honoring the founding of our Nation is the secular equivalent of blasphemy. Are those who applauded their participation blind to the irony or willfully supportive of their agenda? The Germans on the eve of WW II had a saying— “If you have lunch with the Nazis, you are a Nazi.”

Before retiring I presided over many naturalization ceremonies wherein I had the privilege of swearing in new citizens. Several of those events occurred during a time when there was a national backlash against immigrants and even a campaign at the highest levels of government to demonize immigrants whose national origins were rooted in countries that were “disfavored” (I won’t repeat the vulgar term used at the highest level but it was widely reported). During such time I could not help but note a sense of trepidation among many of these new citizens, as if wondering whether they were really welcome in our country. I would make a point of talking about the true principles of our Nation, and how our Flag (which we all pledged allegiance to as part of the ceremony) stood for those principles, including equality, liberty, freedom, civil rights, jury service, voting, acceptance into our diverse culture, and compassion. I would also cite the memorable humanitarianism and other contributions bestowed on America by the numerous immigrants and their children who became naturalized citizens. One of those was Jonas Salk, the son of Russian Jewish refugees who came here to escape persecution. Salk became a doctor and labored tirelessly to invent the polio vaccine which saved the entire world from this terrible scourge. He charged nothing for his invention, and when asked who owned the patent to the vaccine, he simply responded “the people”.

That is America. Our strength lies in our diversity. That is our heritage, and that is what our flag truly represents.

We must not allow those who detest these principles and who are determined to undermine our values and even democracy itself to “capture our flag” and co-opt it to make it symbolize the very opposite of its true meaning. Protect it, honor it and proudly display it for its true meaning, not its hijacked distortion.

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posted 7.28.2021