Stomping The Symbol

In lieu of a music review this week (I am waiting for The Social Experiment to drop the highly anticipated Surf so I can lock myself in a room and listen to it forever) you are getting a rant. With the country catching fire again from an issue that people tried to fool themselves into thinking was solved, a lot of tensions are rising. It seems like only months ago my friends and family were distracted and distressed by the protests happening in Ferguson and trying our best to keep ourselves sane in such a dark time. In fact it was only months ago, and yet I see the same kind of people writing the same idiotic arguments missing the point of the revolution that is trying to pop its head out of all this madness. I will not go into details about what is happening in Baltimore because I feel like if you do not know by this point then you need to put more effort into finding out information on your own. If this sounds harsh I am sorry, but we are in charge of our own opinions and there is a more specific issue that I want to get into today: the #EricSheppardChallenge.

For those of you who do not know, a challenge has been circulating around social media known as the #EricSheppardChallenge. This challenge, issued by the man it is named after, involves desecrating an American flag in some way and then posting it on social media. This story broke national headlines when a veteran tried to intervene in Sheppards flag burning and an altercation broke out. It is important to point out the Sheppard apparently proclaims himself to be a “terror towards white people” and identifies with the New Black Panther party that is slowly growing in membership (I wonder why). So while he started this trend he is a little more radical than most. He is now a fugitive on the run but that is not the point of this story. The point is that his challenge took off and now pictures and videos of young African-American's are showing up over media of them stomping our standing on flags. One video, deemed “graphic” by a news site shows a woman doing the Running Man atop a flag before exclaiming “F**k your flag” on camera. Now to me this is not a big deal, all states have different regulations of how they treat those who disrespect the flag, and it is obvious why this person did it. So naturally I figured that reason would be clear to anyone else watching the video. Nope. People have gone on long tangents and rants about what the flag means and how stupid these people are for stomping on freedom and worst of all they comment that “if they don't like it here than they should just leave”. Now I usually go out of my way to blow up at people on social media or voice my opinion too loud online, I prefer to embody the changes that I want to see. I prefer to try my best to be an educated black man so you cannot lump me into your poorly made stereotyped boxes, and a lot of my peers do the same. However, being educated means putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, so this is me ranting because I believe in moving forward.

First off let us clarify what a symbol means, because most people just spout the same time old speech that, “The flag is a symbol of America and the freedom and pride it stands for” without understanding that there is more to the flag than this one interpretation. A symbol is usually a physical object that is used to represent something else. Paper represents money, engagement rings represent a promise, and a cloth represents pride and freedom. Now I do not mince my words, the American flag in any size is nothing but a cloth. True it is a cloth that was created to mean something, but it has no meaning outside of what we give it. The world is made up of our perceptions of the world and if you perceive the cloth as dangerous than the cloth becomes dangerous, if you perceive it as a hero than it becomes a hero. The cloth that is the American flag has never protected you or personally made your life better in any way but what it represents rather is an entirely different story. The most common complaint I hear about this challenge is that by stomping on the flag you are somehow spitting in the face of everyone who has ever died fighting for this country and are in a sense a terrorist. As passionate as people may be about this country this is not a healthy interpretation to take away. I have family members and friends who have served in the armed forces, people who make it their lives to try and protect the country that their loved ones are in and you cannot help but respect that. However to base your reaction to this challenge off of a one dimensional view of what a flag represents is close minded and counterproductive, and no one is close minded right? No we all want to be that open minded intellectual without ever considering other points view or opinions. What about the innocent people killed in drone strikes to “protect our flag”, or the immigrant family that came here for a better life only be subject to racism and abuse upon crossing into America? The point here is that if you want to praise the flag as a symbol of America, keep in mind it is a symbol for ALL of America. This country that boasts such a proud lineage of freedom fighters is also the same country where police can perform no-knock raids and plant evidence to justify killing a harmless family. That is what we cannot forget in these situations; that we live in a great clock that is bogged down by its corrupt rusty gears. People who stomp these flags are not trying to offend anyone except those who are opposing the meek and upholding immoral values, which sadly is more people than the critics of this challenge realize.

I have seen many comments calling participants in this challenge terrorists and declaring that we should have “Open season” an anyone who disrespects the flag. Now as easy as it is to hide behind a screen and type mean words that sound threatening, think about what these people are saying. They want people to be murdered for openly expressing their dissatisfaction with a country that has proven it is not the pillar of virtue that many people claim it to be. The reason why it is illegal in a lot of areas of the U.S to destroy flags is because America is afraid of losing its blind patriotic hold on its citizens. If a man decides to burn a flag outside his house in such a way that he does not hurt anyone is it still a crime? The same people who want harm to come to those who burn flags still blindly recite the pledge of alliance without ever thinking about they are actually saying. Wanting someones head for destroying a cloth is misguided, especially since the flag will only ever be a distant vague symbol of freedom for most people. I understand if you served in the Armed forces and would do anything to protect America or you have a very personal reason to cling to the flag that I may not totally understand, but as a person you have to know the difference between expressing an opinion and an actual viable threat. A flag being burned by someone scorned by the country you love does not take away what is great about this nation, but it rather highlights it's flaws. There are a lot of young people out there who have had to watch as time and time again they have been told that because of what they look like or who they are that America will never fully accept them. This also goes beyond race. This is same country where same-sex marriage is not legal in every state and we have the audacity to claim that we stand for freedom. In some ways we are moving forward but if you are too stubborn to see the faults in the symbol you swear your loyalty to then don't try and feign being educated or open-minded because you are part of the problem.

The worst of it though is the comment that “if they don't like it than they should leave”. Are you serious? First of all the vast majority of people who say this have no idea what it feels like to actually FEEL unwanted in this country. I was born and raised here but there are a lot of time I feel like a stranger in my own homeland, and that is where the problem lies. This is our home. We are not here because we asked to be, history just put us here by chance. As it is equally our home as anyone elses we reserve the right to try and make it a better place for those who feel targeted by patriotism. Say we were to leave, where do you suppose we go? We do not know any home beside this and being asked to leave for voicing our opinion (in a way that does not actually hurt anyone mind you) is hateful and ignorant. Imagine in school whenever you could not do a problem right the teacher just told you to get out instead of helping you. Imagine how backwards it would be if we lived a country that gave total freedom to some while restricting the freedom of others. Do not tell me to get out of my home when you do not know what it feels like to be homeless. Those who have never tried to understand why someone would step on a flag or what that actually means should not be allowed to contribute to the ever changing dialogue of revolution. I am glad people are doing this challenge. I want America to feel uncomfortable and pay attention to how unhappy a lot of the country is with the way they are being treated, and have been for a long time. When we are starving or in poverty they don't glance in our direction but when it comes to their precious flag now all of a sudden they want to pay attention.

I do not recommend that any of my friends go out and burn flags because I do not want anything to happen to you, but if you decide to do it I will completely understand why. If someone burning a cloth makes you so upset then I think it is time for you to look inside yourself and ask just why you it bothers you so. I do not want to go as far as saying this devout loyalty to the flag makes people brainwashed, but there is a reason this challenge came to be and if you do not want to see that then we have much bigger issues at hand. Think about it, just by writing this post and expressing my opinion about a cloth my well being may be at risk. Back home I am surrounded by a very patriotic community that while usually understanding would not take kindly to me questioning their symbol. I get that you love it, but I do not believe in loving or valuing something without knowing why. I love America, but not all if it. I love that we have a flag that should represent freedom and pride, but I also know that not everyone is guaranteed these rights. This is not the time to be uneducated and stubborn, now more than ever we need people to peel off their blinders and see the country for what it is. If you want the flag to mean so much then lets make America a country worth being proud of. If you are not willing to do this or honestly do not comprehend anything I have said then this post is not for you, you are too far gone. This trend of flag stomping will not stop as long as people are unhappy with how this country treats them, and if you do not like that then maybe you should take a second look at this country you have sworn allegiance to.