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AUGUST 8, 2025 OPINION Let Freedom Ring “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” I made this pledge every morning in elementary school. The name of my school was “Little Britain" and it was located next to the military base I grew up on. I believed in that. I also grew up on Saturday morning cartoons — Superman, fighting for truth, justice and the American way. Captain America, whose theme song was: “When Captain America throws his mighty shield, all those who chose to oppose his shield must yield! If he’s led to a fight and a duel is due then the red and the white and the blue will come through when Captain America throws his mighty shield!” I believed in that, too. I was born on July 3rd. Every year, the celebration of the most important day in America’s history seared itself with explosions and flashes of light into my little nervous system. To me it was a celebration of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Again, I believed in that. The American flag was my symbol. I believed that America was in fact the land of the free and the home of the brave. I believed this land was your land and this land was my land. I believed my country was the sweet land of liberty. But then my American Dream ended. In college, I woke up. I learned about whose land this actually was, who this land was stolen from and how. I learned that the land of opportunity meant people had the opportunity to own slaves. I learned that America meant being a bully and making a buck at any cost. But I was raised to be a patriot. Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. It is the duty of the free people to crush a government when it becomes oppressive. That day is here. As a service worker for the homeless, I found myself one day in a situation that taught me something very important. My friends and I were cleaning up a site where a man had been camped on his own property. The property was taken from him by Pittsfield Township on a tax technicality. He was behind on his taxes. They seized his home and sold it to Habitat for Humanity. I’ll just leave that irony right there for you to savor. It gets worse. The man was African American, survivor of three strokes which left his mental capacity very compromised, and a veteran. He was supposed to be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Constitution. America, from sea to shining sea, abandoned a man who fought for his JIM CLARK Groundcover vendor No. 139 country. In the rubble of his remaining property, there was an American flag. It was on the ground and covered in garbage. Some of my friends wanted to burn it. That last stitch of patriotism in me wanted to protect it. I told them my story of elementary school, and the military base, and the Saturday morning cartoons. But then my “paradigm was shifted” again. One of my friends was Palestinian. She told me what the flag meant to her. You see, our great nation has been attacking her country — her home — relentlessly — via the weapons America sells to Israel ($7.4 billion worth. Read about it in The Guardian, Feb. 7, 2025). To her the flag meant the death of her neighbors and their children, the decimation of her generational family home, and the horror of the extermination of her people. The American flag to her was the same as the Nazi flag to me — the symbol of an evil empire. When she told me her story, I swallowed hard. (The next paragraph is slightly fictionalized for sensitive reasons). Recently I saw a YouTube video of a delightful barbecue and bonfire in what seemed to be an average American backyard. There were American flags lining the bonfire pit. Flash back to the 80s when Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag to protest the policies of then-President Ronald Reagan. For many, Reagan was the Conservative’s president; his flag represented freedom and comfort. Back then I really didn’t understand the politics of the time so when I saw the flag burning, I thought he was a traitor. I saw the flag burning on the news in Middle Eastern countries and in my naivety couldn’t understand why they were so mad at us. Flash forward to a few days ago. The people in the video start burning the flags. I had a visceral reaction. What was happening to my patriotism? You see, I was one of the people in the video. At that moment I had to come to terms with something. The flag today means something different than the flag I grew up with. It doesn’t represent truth and justice like I thought it did. That notion was burned away. Then something weird happened. All of a sudden I wanted to be okay with it. I wanted to let go of my childhood innocence and nostalgia. I searched my heart and found something that did the trick. I am a middle aged white male. The flag has always served me and my demographic. Meanwhile, it has been the symbol of oppression for the rest of the world. I cannot support that. What I realized was that the American flag, the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, represents my white male privilege. It represents capitalism, imperialism, white supremacy and white privilege. Most of all, the American flag has become a symbol of hate. Let it burn in the fires of revolution and reclamation. Let it burn, let it burn, let it burn. I still maintain my identity as an American. I believe that truth and justice, that the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are FOR EVERYONE. I believe that We the People are mandated to overthrow oppressive regimes, just like we did in Nazi Germany. Just like we need to do now. There is one American icon I still believe in. She is the enigmatic symbol of the tension between oppressive nationalism and universal human rights. She is Lady Liberty. The Roman Goddess of freedom; her statue bears a poem that may serve as an epitaph for capitalism and nationalism. "A New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus 1849 - 1887 Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” 12/31/2025 GROUNDCOVER NEWS 5 To the Ancient Land of the bourgeoisie and the ruling class — keep your racism, your oppression, your xenophobia, and your hate. Keep your “storied pomp.” I stand with the tired, the poor, the huddled masses. I stand with those you choose to rob and murder. I stand with Palestine. I stand with Ukraine and Cuba. I stand with your own children, the Street Community and the homeless. I stand with the Pride Community, the Native Community and the People of Color. I stand with the ones you betray; the women, the workers and even your own warriors. As a new nation rises under the collapse of the old, I will pledge my allegiance to the Goddess of Freedom. Bring your torch, my Lady, for our nation has failed. oppressive

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