On the morning of November 29, 1864, the Arapaho chieftain Black Kettle awoke to the sounds of the Third Colorado Volunteers thundering across the snow covering the hills around Sand Creek, Colorado. He immediately raised a white flag alongside the 34-star American flag he had been given in Washington the previous year by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. He had been told soldiers would not attack if he flew that flag.
He had been lied to.
When the slaughter was over, at least 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho were dead. Soldiers mutilated their bodies and took trophies of breasts and scrota to be turned into tobacco pouches and other memorabilia. The Denver newspapers praised the Third Colorado and Colonel Chivington, their Washington-appointed leader. In 1866, Congress held hearings on the massacre and excoriated Chivington.
Throughout American history, there have been people -- from elected officials to vigilantes -- who have disrespected the Stars and Stripes far worse than those who have, in protest, burned it.
Indeed, on this weekend of commemoration of the Declaration of Independence, those of us who are patriots out of our love for America -- not out of that zombie-like devotion which sparks comments like "my country, right or wrong" -- know that the real gift of the Declaration is its ideal of everlasting liberty.
This has nothing whatsoever to do with the rabid, flag-wrapped jingoism that so many in the ranks of the pundits, politicians and populace at large have confused with a "shining city on a hill."
What's best about the Declaration's ideals is that they have for two-and-a-quarter centuries given impetus to people to actually embrace them to their fullest extent. Those ideals have spurred abolitionists, suffragists and rights activists of every kind to expand their application to everyone. Each step of the way, reactionaries have opposed them, with guns, dogs, nooses, fire hoses, humiliation, degradation, and more, all of it performed under the auspices of the rule of law.
These same reactionaries have, from the time of the Founders, sought to isolate the Stars and Stripes as a symbol representative solely of their own ends. In war and peace, they have paraded the American flag as if it were their personal property.
As Michael Moore notes in yesterday's
Los Angeles Times, that has unfortunately made some Americans surrender the flag to its tainters. Many of us have been too conflicted -- caught between the ideals and the reality -- to hang the flag from our porch or put a decal of it on our car.
Quote:The Patriot's Act
What's more American than asking questions?
By Michael Moore
For too long now we have abandoned our flag to those who see it as a symbol of war and dominance, as a way to crush dissent at home. Flags are flying from the back of SUVs, rising high above car dealerships, plastering the windows of businesses and adorning paper bags from fast-food restaurants. But these flags are intended to send a message: "You're either with us or you're against us," "Bring it on!" or "Watch what you say, watch what you do."
Those who absconded with our flag now use it as a weapon against those who question America's course. They remind me of that famous 1976 photo of an anti-busing demonstrator in Boston thrusting a large American flag on a pole into the stomach of the first black man he encountered. These so-called patriots hold the flag tightly in their grip and, in a threatening pose, demand that no one ask questions. Those who speak out find themselves shunned at work, harassed at school, booed off Oscar stages. The flag has become a muzzle, a piece of cloth stuffed into the mouths of those who dare to ask questions. ...
I think it's time for those of us who love this country -- and everything it should stand for -- to reclaim our flag from those who would use it to crush rights and freedoms, both here at home and overseas. We need to redefine what it means to be a proud American.
If these things represent what it means to be an American these days -- and I am an American -- should I hang my head in shame? No. Instead, I intend to perform what I believe is my patriotic duty. I can't think of a more American thing to do than raise questions -- and demand truthful answers -- when our leader wants to send our sons and daughters off to die in a war.
If we don't do that -- the bare minimum -- for those who offer to defend our country, then we have failed them and ourselves. They offer to die for us, if necessary, so that we can be free. All they ask in return is that we never send them into harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary. And with this war, we have broken faith with our troops by sending them off to be killed and maimed for wrong and immoral reasons.
Let's create a world in which, when people see the Stars and Stripes, they will think of us as the people who brought peace to the world, who brought good-paying jobs to all citizens and clean water for the world to drink.
In anticipation of that day, I am putting my flag out today, with hope and with pride.
I urge all Americans who considers themselves patriots to take themselves to see his documentary
Fahrenheit 9/11 in order to make an informed determination about whether their patriotism is being rewarded by the current stewards of political leadership in Washington.
