Maybe it’s my background in sociology, but I feel as though I have a slightly different take on the issue of the flag. It's merely a symbol. That means, in sociological terms, it’s a representation of something else, in this case, a representation of our country.

We are Americans because we were born here or arrived here and choose to live together within these borders. We have, throughout the years, taken pride in the laws that have been created by our forefathers. We agreed with the concepts of society that they laid down, the miraculous interweaving of the precepts of freedom with the before unknown idea of all men being created equal. Throughout our history, people have died to come here, almost as readily as people have died to protect it because of the ideals under which it was created. Such was our reputation in the world.

In recent years we have watched as our freedoms have been peeled away from us like the petals of a rose. Freedom of speech thwarted, freedom of the press squelched by single party monopolies, freedom of assembly investigated. We have gone from every man having the power of the vote, to an oligarchy where whoever controls the Diebold machines has the power. We are quickly moving from all men being created equal to the have and have-nots.

As we stand on the threshold of this nation’s 230th birthday, we would do well to protect the freedoms and ideals that molded this country into something to be proud of, instead of merely rallying to protect a symbol because in the end, if we don’t, that proud, sweet flag may come to symbolize something totally different.

Rene' Thompson

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