Column: The American flag is for everyone

On June 14, I stood among several hundred people exercising our freedom as Americans to assemble and express our fear, anger, heartbreak and hope about this moment in the life of our country. We held signs, chanted, flourished our American flags, and waved to the stream of cars—the drivers honking their horns and giving us a thumbs up. It was a joyful time, and there were millions of others around the country doing the same thing: celebrating democracy.

As I was commenting on a neighbor’s particularly clever sign, a loud roar caught my attention, and a black pickup swept past, plastered with a large Trump sign, as the driver digitally expressed his displeasure with all of us. Then I noticed the large tattered American flag fluttering from his antenna. There he was, waving his flag as we waved ours. Same flag. It was as though the meaning of his flag and our flags together shared the moment — patriotism, caring fiercely about our country — aching to prevail over our political breach.

Back in the Vietnam era, a number of us learned a hard lesson: we allowed the flag to become “theirs.” We gave the flag away, and I resolved never to allow that to happen again. For better or worse, that flag represents who we are as Americans. If it is to be for the better, then it’s our shared work to make it so. And that’s what we were doing on Saturday: reminding all the world that the Stars and Stripes stands for freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and the right to petition. That’s the First Amendment of the Constitution. We might disagree with Mr. Pickup, but the flag belongs to all of us, and whoever’s ideas and passions prevail must be determined on a level playing field under the rule of law.

In the midst of all that joyful noise, I realized that as essential as it is to call the current administration to account, to fiercely protest the chaos, corruption, cruelty, costs and lawlessness, we cannot focus only on what we oppose. We must reframe our actions, keep it big and refuse to succumb to fear and anger alone. We are not merely protesting; we are celebrating democracy, and should say so. If we lead with our respect for each other, for the Constitution, the rule of law, and yes, Old Glory, what is that young fellow in the pick-up to think? What are the National Guard troops who are drawn from our own ranks to believe? What are the troops to do when they are ordered to fire on their fellow Americans bearing their own flag?

Larry Daloz is a retired educator. He lives in Hanover