June 14 is observed as Flag Day, commemorating the adoption of the original US flag of 13 alternating red and white stripes and a circle of 13 white stars on a dark blue field.
June 14 also marks the birthday of Donald J. Trump, our incumbent president. Flag Day is an appropriate holiday for Trump; the flag as symbol carries more importance for him than the ideals the nation was founded upon.
Trump wrapped in a flag is synonymous with Trump photographed holding a Bible, its lessons of forgiveness, humility, universal love as alien to him as “one nation, indivisible, under God, with liberty and justice for all.” The first time in 2016 I heard someone praise Trump “for speaking his mind,” I thought he had no mind to speak.
But that is not the case. He speaks as he tweets and acts, impulsively, with little forethought or discretion. His words, like many of his actions, must be retracted, modified, toned down by advisors. Symbols are important, because they remind his defenders what he espouses, and they anger those who disbelieve him. The president and his staff do not wear a face mask, because it symbolizes weakness, the “nanny state” telling people to watch their health and think of their community. Mask-free means tough, unafraid of illness, putting the individual as more important than the group.
Cartoonists love Trump’s personal symbols — the swirl of hair, the pouting mouth, the long red necktie, junk food, the golf club and MAGA cap.
It’s the beauty of that slogan: who could argue with “Make America Great Again?” But couched within those four words are the identity of the first Americans privileged to vote — white male property owners. MAGA celebrates white men, heterosexual, middle-class or wealthy, Christian, anti-government, and their wives and offspring. People who do not correspond to those markers are considered a menace, because trying to actualize the ideal of “liberty and justice for all” is seen not as a way to bring everyone to an equal level but as a way to weaken the rights and privileges of those in authority.
#MeToo and Black Lives Matter are two populist movements of the Trump era that threaten the MAGA crowd. If the Equal Rights Amendment is finally constitutionalized, women may stand not on a false pedestal but next to or up to men. If “All Lives Matter” includes a subset that “Black Lives Matter,” where can the anti-black racists escape to?
And as these two movements gain majority endorsement, others follow. Pride Month celebrates LGBTQ lives and accomplishments. Reform of law enforcement is happening, now, finally, and will possibly be followed with sensible gun control. Climate change activists gather strength when the global pandemic demonstrates how humans have damaged clean air and water across the planet, simply because a larger number of people stay home.
A year ago, during the Democratic Party primary season, Bernie Sanders’ two top priorities — Medicare for All and free college tuition — were viewed as too far-out for most voters, as was Andrew Yang’s argument for universal basic income. More than one candidate called for the end of the electoral college. Now all these are given serious consideration. None are symbolic — all proposed changes will redefine 21st Century life.
It is true that rich people and corporations will see their taxes go up, but they will not be deprived of their rights and privileges. They will still get to live in fancy houses in nice neighborhoods, own guns, go to church on Sunday. No rights will be sacrificed in order to give more rights to poor people, working people, young people, women, minorities.
We shouldn’t think that “life is going to change” due to covid-19; life is already changing. Schools, business, entertainment, voting, law enforcement — they are all changing.
It is up, as voters, as citizens (or resident non-citizens) to direct the change. I am thrilled that young people are marching in the street s— my daughter considers it her “legacy.” All Americans should consider our legacy — the noble words of the Declaration and Constitution — and help bring them to fruition, liberty and justice for all.