Keep flags flying, or we’ll be on our own

By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Flags are an integral part of life, no matter where you go. Obviously, the most common around is our star-spangled banner known as the American flag. Flags can often evoke a sense of pride.

Unfortunately, it seems like flags also generate other emotions like anger and shame, and that’s where I have a problem.

On Fox News recently, it was reported that the Los Angeles Police Department banned the Thin Blue Line flag from the public areas of its buildings, claiming it has violent and extremist views.

That’s definitely not what I see when I see a variation of the American flag design with the single blue line. That flag came about as a support for the men and women in law enforcement. It essentially says to them, “You protect us, and for that we thank you and love you.”

The L.A. Police Chief, Michel Moore, claimed that the decision came based off a community complaint that the Thin Blue Line was representative of extremist viewpoints from the Proud Boys and other fringe organizations. Moore acknowledged that the flag represents the honor and valor of those who work to protect us all but that it had been undermined by people with their “racist, bigoted and oppressive values.”

So, what’s to be gained by hiding that flag from public view? It’s a flag that supports the police officers, but it gets banned from a police facility because of one community complaint. Have we become so triggered as a society that we immediately jump when one person claims something is offensive?

Don’t just take my word for it, though. The police union in Los Angeles called the move “political pandering,” and they’re dead on. When people in this country feel despair and fear, many of them take heart in seeing our American flag and its status as symbol of freedom. The same applies to the Thin Blue Line flag, in that it’s a sign to our police officers, especially when some of their own are killed in the line of duty, that they have support from the people they’ve sworn to protect.

By taking the flag down, it’s an indication that the leaders in that police department don’t support their officers. It’s a sign to those officers that they’re on their own, not a message you want the community protecters to hear.

The call to ban the Thin Blue Line often comes from the left, but the right also bears the guilt of flag banning. Rainbow Pride flags, a symbol for the LGBT community, are being banned from schools across the country because they’re believed to be a source of “political speech.”

Much like the Thin Blue Line, the rainbow flag is a symbol of support that lets people who fit within the LGBT spectrum know they’re supported and valued. While many of us have the benefit of people supporting us in everything we do — even when some of the decisions are proven to be downright stupid — some young people aren’t supported because of their sexuality or who they are.

The argument for banning the rainbow flags from schools is that it’s making a political statement. While the flag has unfortunately been shoved into this category at times, the flags are more a symbol of a safe space for young people struggling in a society where people say they are bad, they’re unclean, abominations and any other hurtful phrase you can think of. If that flag is there, students can believe they can go to that teacher and ask for help. Remove the flags, and just like with the police officers, the message is clear — they’re on their own.

However, it’s not just the schools that right-wingers want to keep rainbow-free. U.S. embassies are also being targeted by those on the right, including Rep. Jeff Duncan from South Carolina. He is one of the co-sponsors for the Old Glory Only Act, which would ban rainbow flags, Blacks Lives Matter flags and any other flag save for the Stars and Stripes and the flags of the military. It’s an act of irony, considering Duncan’s home state flies the Confederate flag over its capitol. Hypocrisy, much?

The solution to all of this very simple. Leave the flags alone. We seem to forget at times that this is America, where freedom flourishes. We might not like everything we see or hear, but we also can’t keep stifling freedom of speech, which is the numero uno amendment in our country’s constitution, because something upsets us. In a world where hope seems lost, having as many positive symbols in plain view seems essential for us to survive as a people.

So let the Thin Blue Line flag fly. Let rainbow flags fly. Let the Confederate flag fly, too, while you’re at it. Add a little color, because without it, we’re just looking at a world with a blank canvas.

At that point, we really will be on our own.


Lee Pulaski is the city editor for NEW Media. Readers can contact him at lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com.

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