Do you display US flags or have red, white and blue out?

[bobbiwoz]

We fly the American flag, proudly.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

That actually is something I think about. After 9/11, when we "came together as a country" the only two Middle Eastern business owners in my community were essentially run out of town. One had his business vandalized several times, which was an especially painful irony as his family came here because it was a safer place to be Christian, and decided to close when someone threw a rock through a front window while his college-age daughter was working the store alone. We were regulars there and hated to see them go; his daughter was the sweetest, most studious girl and she'd have these huge biology and anatomy texts out on the counter while ringing us up, and she never got impatient with the inevitable questions my son would ask about whatever was visible. So that's my impression of how we came together after 9/11 - we all donated and cried and remembered, and our local emergency services got some much-needed support and modernization, but a lot of those same people who wrap themselves in the flag also lashed out in ugly ways.

That’s not something I would either support or condone. But what about the people on the planes, and in the buildings? What about the first responders that ran into the buildings to save people, and gave up their own lives in the process? Both then and down the road in some cases? What about their families; their children? What about all the young people that felt a call to serve after that? We can certainly look at individual circumstances, but we can also look at the bigger picture, too. I happen to believe there’s still a lot of goodness out there.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That actually is something I think about. After 9/11, when we "came together as a country" the only two Middle Eastern business owners in my community were essentially run out of town. One had his business vandalized several times, which was an especially painful irony as his family came here because it was a safer place to be Christian, and decided to close when someone threw a rock through a front window while his college-age daughter was working the store alone. We were regulars there and hated to see them go; his daughter was the sweetest, most studious girl and she'd have these huge biology and anatomy texts out on the counter while ringing us up, and she never got impatient with the inevitable questions my son would ask about whatever was visible. So that's my impression of how we came together after 9/11 - we all donated and cried and remembered, and our local emergency services got some much-needed support and modernization, but a lot of those same people who wrap themselves in the flag also lashed out in ugly ways.

Prejudice and coming together are not the same thing. Those who exhibited what you're talking about were not coming together for the country, they were utilizing prejudice under the guise of unity. And I think most people understand they are not one in the same

 

[Sanchez]

That actually is something I think about. After 9/11, when we "came together as a country" the only two Middle Eastern business owners in my community were essentially run out of town. One had his business vandalized several times, which was an especially painful irony as his family came here because it was a safer place to be Christian, and decided to close when someone threw a rock through a front window while his college-age daughter was working the store alone. We were regulars there and hated to see them go; his daughter was the sweetest, most studious girl and she'd have these huge biology and anatomy texts out on the counter while ringing us up, and she never got impatient with the inevitable questions my son would ask about whatever was visible. So that's my impression of how we came together after 9/11 - we all donated and cried and remembered, and our local emergency services got some much-needed support and modernization, but a lot of those same people who wrap themselves in the flag also lashed out in ugly ways.

I despise the "those same people" arguments. It is an intellectually lazy way to validate some broad position. You assume that a few seriously misguided individuals hold a certain position and then use that specious assumption to cast a shadow over something that many people (mostly well meaning) do.

I think we all get that you are trying to denigrate what you see as flag flying rubes.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Prejudice and coming together are not the same thing. Those who exhibited what you're talking about were not coming together for the country, they were utilizing prejudice under the guise of unity. And I think most people understand they are not one in the same

Yeah, they were jerks. The first responders were people we can look up to. And the innocents were not unlike those whose losses we grieve today.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Pretty much agree. I think the overt nationalism/patriotism you see in the USA is uniquely American. I also don't understand why we start sporting (and other) events by playing/singing the national anthem. What is there about a baseball game that first needs a statement of our nationalism? I'm also curious to learn what countries require their school students to pledge allegiance to the country every day? The ones that come to mind are a little scary, and not anything with which I'd care to be associated. I don't understand Americans' obsession with "showing how patriotic" they are.

Part of the answer is the aftermath of the first Cold War. There is nothing wrong with being patriotic. Most good hearted Americans are just happy to be living here. People trying to misuse patriotic pride for nefarious purposes are the issue. American exceptionalism is shown by our unity as one people, not by divisive agitators.

 

[Buzz Rules]

My country Ireland is very patriotic. We only became The Republic of Ireland in 1949 after centuries of colonization by The UK and rebellions and civil war. Our flag has just as meaning as the American flag, but we dont have the the same attachment , if thats the right word, to the flag like in America. We don't have things like the pledge of allegiance in schools every day.

Our National Anthem is played at sporting events in Ireland. Many theatres and shows and even nightclubs sometimes play it to signify the end of the evenings events. Playing the National Anthem is a leftover throwback to the days of British rule in Ireland, an act of defiance to our oppressors. The Irish National Anthem was a song that became popular as a rebellion song around 1916 during the time of final rebellion against British rule in Ireland.

Good luck to Ireland in their Nations League games. You have a beautiful flag and country.

 

[J-Dog]

Pretty much agree. I think the overt nationalism/patriotism you see in the USA is uniquely American. I also don't understand why we start sporting (and other) events by playing/singing the national anthem. What is there about a baseball game that first needs a statement of our nationalism? I'm also curious to learn what countries require their school students to pledge allegiance to the country every day? The ones that come to mind are a little scary, and not anything with which I'd care to be associated. I don't understand Americans' obsession with "showing how patriotic" they are.

What's wrong with patriotism?

You are clearly using "nationalism" in this sense as a derogatory, instead of using "patriotism".

And I don't remember the last time that I was forced to stand and pledge allegiance to a dictator at a baseball game, since you seem to be implying that we are similar to North Korea.

 

[Colleen27]

I despise the "those same people" arguments. It is an intellectually lazy way to validate some broad position. You assume that a few seriously misguided individuals hold a certain position and then use that specious assumption to cast a shadow over something that many people (mostly well meaning) do.

I think we all get that you are trying to denigrate what you see as flag flying rubes.

I'm not painting all of those who fly the flag that way. I'm talking about what I've seen around me, because that has shaped how I feel flag-flying in this time and place are perceived.

I have a friend who grew up in a rough part of Detroit. She still does a double take when she sees Detroit Tigers merchandise in red because that was a gang symbol in the place where she lived the first half of her life. I have a red Tigers cap from a school event. I know she's not judging me. I also know she gave her hat from the same event away because she'd never wear something that has such a negative association in her mind, even though she knows that in this case it is just a silly promotional item. I've lived more than half my life in a rural blue collar community, a place where probably 80% of people who are flying the flag have it side-by-side with a confederate flag (that one really confuses me - probably the most "patriotically" decorated house in our town, draped in red white & blue buntings with those cheap little parade flags on every fence post, flies a half-American/half-confederate flag at the top of their lighted pole), thin blue line flag, don't tread on me flag, 3%er flag, etc. I've heard the people with flags on their pickup trucks talking about how someone needs to "go back where they came from" or complain about our community "getting a little dark" when they see the few people of color who live around here. And yeah, I think they - not all flag wavers, but the specific group that is overrepresented in my area - are more or less flag waving rubes that I want nothing to do with.

 

[J-Dog]

I'm not painting all of those who fly the flag that way. I'm talking about what I've seen around me, because that has shaped how I feel flag-flying in this time and place are perceived.

I have a friend who grew up in a rough part of Detroit. She still does a double take when she sees Detroit Tigers merchandise in red because that was a gang symbol in the place where she lived the first half of her life. I have a red Tigers cap from a school event. I know she's not judging me. I also know she gave her hat from the same event away because she'd never wear something that has such a negative association in her mind, even though she knows that in this case it is just a silly promotional item. I've lived more than half my life in a rural blue collar community, a place where probably 80% of people who are flying the flag have it side-by-side with a confederate flag (that one really confuses me - probably the most "patriotically" decorated house in our town, draped in red white & blue buntings with those cheap little parade flags on every fence post, flies a half-American/half-confederate flag at the top of their lighted pole), thin blue line flag, don't tread on me flag, 3%er flag, etc. I've heard the people with flags on their pickup trucks talking about how someone needs to "go back where they came from" or complain about our community "getting a little dark" when they see the few people of color who live around here. And yeah, I think they - not all flag wavers, but the specific group that is overrepresented in my area - are more or less flag waving rubes that I want nothing to do with.

Wow. Stereotype much?

In your last sentence, you could easily change "Flag waving rubes" to a racial slur and have roughly the same sentiment.

 

[jrmasm]

Wow. Stereotype much?

In your last sentence, you could easily change "Flag waving rubes" to a racial slur and have roughly the same sentiment.

Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see anyone arguing with someone about why they choose to fly a flag.

 

[mrodgers]

I do not display the flag, and I don't think it's common around here. But it could be that I just never noticed before, so I decided to count flags on my walk today.

I walked through neighborhoods with varying demographics. In addition to U.S. flags on standard poles, I counted things like a wooden flag door hanging (I don't think it had the correct number of stars and stripes, but I figure it's the thought that counts), a house flying an "honor and remember" flag but not a U.S. flag, a handheld-sized flag stuck into a planter on the porch, etc. At every intersection, I peered down the cross street to count any flags I could see. I did not count flags at non-residential buildings.

In 10 miles, I counted 55 flags, with about 20% of those in a 2- or 3-block stretch of a single neighborhood (not especially close to my own neighborhood).

Now do the same this weekend and see how many aren't up any more.

I never got the only fly the flag on 4 holidays throughout the entire year. That's not patriotism, that's virtue signaling, something we have a massive problem with in today's society. People don't do it for honoring or support. They do it for the look-at-me-I-flew-the-flag only on 4 holidays.

 

[LuvOrlando]

A few people on here touched on the troubling issue of conflation that's going on in the public arena.

The US flag is the US flag.
The Confederate flag has absolutely nothing to do with my flag, other than the fact it represents enemies who lost a war a very long time ago. I think a majority of Americans who fly the US flag are offended by people flying an enemy flag anywhere near it and are infuriated when it's side by side. Not only is this particular flag menacing to an enormous number of Americans but the ideas it represents and the notion of rising up against democracy and the will of the majority are quite possibly traitorous, at least to me.
A person flying an enemy flag is not a patriot to me so the conflation needs to be stomped out and I'd really like my leaders on both sides to do the stomping,

 

[mrodgers]

No, I only use the red and white

When I visited the north side of Lake Ontario, it was a nice sight to see so many people flew the Canada Flag. Everyone we met on our travels across were so wonderful.

 

[GreatLakes]

Pretty much agree. I think the overt nationalism/patriotism you see in the USA is uniquely American. I also don't understand why we start sporting (and other) events by playing/singing the national anthem. What is there about a baseball game that first needs a statement of our nationalism? I'm also curious to learn what countries require their school students to pledge allegiance to the country every day? The ones that come to mind are a little scary, and not anything with which I'd care to be associated. I don't understand Americans' obsession with "showing how patriotic" they are.

Watch the World Cup in November and you'll hear each nation's national anthem before every game. That is unless the stadium announcer plays the wrong one by accident. It isn't only a tradition in the US.

 

[Buzz Rules]

A few people on here touched on the troubling issue of conflation that's going on in the public arena.

The US flag is the US flag.
The Confederate flag has absolutely nothing to do with my flag, other than the fact it represents enemies who lost a war a very long time ago. I think a majority of Americans who fly the US flag are offended by people flying an enemy flag anywhere near it and are infuriated when it's side by side. Not only is this particular flag menacing to an enormous number of Americans but the ideas it represents and the notion of rising up against democracy and the will of the majority are quite possibly traitorous, at least to me.
A person flying an enemy flag is not a patriot to me so the conflation needs to be stomped out and I'd really like my leaders on both sides to do the stomping,

I agree. The confederate flag’s only place in modern society is in a Civil War museum. My ancestors fought for the Union during the war, so it irks me when I see people waving it on the news.

 

[georgina]

Now do the same this weekend and see how many aren't up any more.

I never got the only fly the flag on 4 holidays throughout the entire year. That's not patriotism, that's virtue signaling, something we have a massive problem with in today's society. People don't do it for honoring or support. They do it for the look-at-me-I-flew-the-flag only on 4 holidays.

I don’t get the flying it every day at ones home. Basically put it out and forget it. Says nothing at all about true feeling for country, could also be called that stupid term virtue signaling. Putting it out to celebrate a holiday to me means I thought about that day in particular and absolutely is honoring.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Now do the same this weekend and see how many aren't up any more.

I never got the only fly the flag on 4 holidays throughout the entire year. That's not patriotism, that's virtue signaling, something we have a massive problem with in today's society. People don't do it for honoring or support. They do it for the look-at-me-I-flew-the-flag only on 4 holidays.

I don’t get the flying it every day at ones home. Basically put it out and forget it. Says nothing at all about true feeling for country, could also be called that stupid term virtue signaling. Putting it out to celebrate a holiday to me means I thought about that day in particular and absolutely is honoring.

Both of these just means no one should be assuming anything about someone's intentions because both are valid to feel on a personal level.

Someone may feel a flag only taken out on certain days gives a hollow meaning and someone may feel a flag left out all the time gives a hollow meaning.

 

[georgina]

Both of these just means no one should be assuming anything about someone's intentions because both are valid to feel on a personal level.

Someone may feel a flag only taken out on certain days gives a hollow meaning and someone may feel a flag left out all the time gives a hollow meaning.

sort of where I was heading. However, if you leave it up at night and are not illuminating it you are breaking the code.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Absolutely not.