Opinion Pieces
For Flag Day, let's live up to our republic's values
Washington,
June 14, 2020
The American flag was born amid a revolution.
It was stitched together by the fingers of Philadelphian seamstress Betsy Ross, legend has it, and confirmed by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, as the colonies were still besieged by British forces in the struggle for autonomy and self-determination.
Today, we hang it in our schools and fly it in our front yards, but it began as a battle flag. Freedom never comes without a cost, without struggle or sacrifice.
Our flag has evolved since those early days. Between 1777 and 1960, Congress passed laws several times to change the arrangement of the flag and add stars to the design with the admission of each new state.
In the same way, our country has evolved and must continue to evolve. Part of the legacy of the American dream is that each generation works to create a better future for their children. We strive to leave the country in the next generation's hands a little better than how we found it: more prosperous and more peaceful, yes, but also more free. Our founding document commits every generation to working towards “a more perfect Union.”
In order to do so, America must ensure that all of its citizens are guaranteed their God-given birthrights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, bolstered by the belief that all are created equal and deserve equal justice.
The American flag represents the most inclusive experiment in the history of humanity: a nationality based not on origin, but on the shared ideal that all human beings are created equal and endowed by God with certain inalienable rights. When we fail to live up to that fundamental truth, both historically and today, it is to our entire nation's deep detriment. We betray ourselves. As Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
When American citizens are able to protest peacefully while being protected by police, that is our strength. When we engage in bipartisan conversations and craft thoughtful legislation, that is our strength. When we hold democratic elections, that is our strength.
We have a sacred duty to do better than previous generations as we work to "mend our every flaw," as it says in the song “America the Beautiful.”
We owe this to the American flag — the flag that has stood for freedom from the beaches of Normandy to the streets of Hong Kong. The flag that has been lovingly draped over the coffins of freedom fighters of every color, race, and creed. The flag that will wave over the nation that our children call home.
Our pledge of “liberty and justice for all” is not a box that was checked back in 1776. It is a battle cry — for us, and for every generation, to keep fighting until there is "liberty and justice for all" who live under Old Glory.
It is up to each and every one of us to live up to the values for which our flag stands.
This opinion piece was first published in the Washington Examiner.
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