PLATFORM : My Country, My Flag

Almost 40 years ago, when I was spending the summer at a Southern Christian Leadership Conference program, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. taught me to respect our country and its flag. There is glory in citizenship, Dr. King said. We don’t want haters. Our country may not be all we want it to be, but that will change. Respect your country. Honor its flag.

I have no problem with people loving our motherland of Africa. But I don’t need the adjective African to explain who I am. My ancestors’ blood, sweat and tears were shed right here in this country. I am an American. When you hear those people on Capitol Hill talking about Americans, that’s who they’re talking about. Me.

So this proud American would like to send a message to Capitol Hill: Pass a constitutional amendment to protect the flag from physical harm. Right now, such outrageous acts as burning the flag are actually protected as a form of free speech. When I see someone treating the flag like that, it hits me in my gut. But because of a Supreme Court decision, an amendment is the only way possible to give the flag the protection it deserves.