In an early episode from The West Wing (S1E16) entitled “20 Hours in L.A.”, there is a scene where President Bartlet attends a town hall in California where concerned citizens are speaking out about flag burning. And one of the speakers has this to say:
Mr. President, I rise today to say that the American flag is probably the most recognized symbol in the world. Wherever it stands, it represents freedom. Millions of American citizens, who have served our nation in war, have carried that flag into battle. They have been killed just for wearing it on their uniforms, because it represents the most feared deterrent to tyranny. And that is liberty.
I agree with most of this statement. But I’m having a real hard time with the following sentence:
Wherever it stands, it represents freedom.
Because I don’t know that it does, even in our own country. It seems to stand for freedom if you are a white, heterosexual, non-poor, (preferably) male, Christian person.
It doesn’t seem to stand for freedom for:
- Black people
- Latino people
- Women
- Transgender people
- Homosexual people
- Poor people
- Non-Christian people
It doesn’t stand for freedom for these people. At least not in Trump’s America. And I say “Trump’s America” to represent the collective lack of empathy, compassion, understanding, and care for what they call “the other” in our society.
