Open Letter to the Honorable Steve Womack
Dear Representative Womack,
Thank you for your most recent Washington Update email. It’s important that representatives keep their constituents updated. And I hope you’ll agree it’s also important for you to receive their feedback. I want to address your proposed amendment to the constitution that would prohibit physical desecration of the American flag.
My father was a veteran. When he died—in the Fayetteville Veterans Home—I was presented with an American flag, which I keep folded in the appropriate 90-degree triangle in a place where I see it daily. On occasion, I touch it, and make a comment to Pop, as if he were still here.
It was Pop who taught me that while a flag serves as a symbol of national solidarity, the actual, physical flag is never more important than the people who live and breathe on the terrain represented by that flag—regardless of whether they are born citizens, naturalized citizens, or seeking to become citizens. My father was the most patriotic person I’ve ever known. His drive to defend the constitution, and the rights of all the people it protects, was always apparent.
My grandparents—Pop’s parents—were immigrants who came from Lithuania in the early 20th century. At the time, Lithuania was under Russian rule. Lithuanian language and culture were suppressed by the Russian government—including use of the language in schools and print. Is it any wonder many Lithuanians came to the United States seeking freedom?
Perhaps it was the very act of my grandparents seeking American citizenship that set the stage for their son to become the patriot he was—to the point where he became a lawyer late in life, specifically so he could plead the cases of people whose rights were questionably curtailed—especially those who could not afford lawyers. He was adamant that human rights not be reserved for the wealthy or the white. Nor for Southerners or Northerners. Nor for those of specific religious or cultural backgrounds. But for all of us.
Please consider this: When people defile a flag in protest, they are trying to send a very strong message without physically hurting anybody. It might be an ugly act, but it’s likely the most vivid symbol they can think of without actually treading on another person’s physical well-being. However dear we might hold the American flag itself, it is the idea of what it represents that is important, including the rights of people to speak out against what they perceive as unjust. Our America allows them freedom of expression, even if we find their methods distasteful. And common sense tells us that human beings, and their right to express themselves, should be protected before an inanimate cloth rectangle.
If we are to be offended by what we perceive as desecration of a national symbol, I would more quickly take offense at big businesses that profit from American flag garments—often made in China—including socks and underwear. Is it any more moral to put your American flag clad feet into smelly boots, or cover your derriere with the stars and stripes, than to emphasize your disagreement with the government—your fear for your life or the lives of loved ones—by publicly setting a flag afire?
A national symbol commonly made of nylon, polyester, or cotton, should never be held more important than flesh and blood humans trying to get their point across in the strongest way possible—without attacking other humans. When public dissent becomes punishable by law, it is our national credo that will go up in smoke.
I would trade Pop’s flag in a minute to achieve liberty and justice for all.
I concur!