Mass College To Stop Flying American Flags
This is surely something everyone is going to have an opinion on, however it is a much deeper matter.
Now I am not going to sit here and be one of those obnoxious political snobs that think their way is best (we all know one). I am going to write this article as the kind of voter I was in this years hotly debated presidential election, one who didn't know what to do.
News 10 has reported that Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts (a mere 2 hour drive from the Capital Region) has decided to all together stop flying flags on their campus. Their reasoning is fair, but why they must do it is flat out shameful.
This all started when the campus decided to fly their flag at half mass when Donald Trump became President Elect. Now that right there was their first mistake. Whether or not you voted for Trump, Hilary or third party. The process in electing a president has been the same for centuries and it is disrespectful for a flag to be flown at half mass due to Trump winning.
Either way that was a faux pas on Hampshire's part. One that caused many residents and veterans to be offended. Rightfully so. What happened next was truly disgusting in my book. The night before Veterans Day, somebody decided to burn the flag. Now as someone who supports our troops at sea and at home regardless of my stance on the war that they fight, as someone who loves this country and as someone who comes from a large military family I am appalled by that. That is sacrilege and in my opinion is a flat out disgrace.
When you burn a flag, you burn everything that it stands for. Our freedom and the thousands upon thousands of brave men and women who volunteer and decide to put their life at risk to keep us at home safe and sound. The person who did this may think that it is a way to protest our 45th President, but it is not. It is disrespecting all of those troops mentioned above. That flag is more than a symbol for the United States. The star spangled flag we see every day is a memory to every man, woman and child who has lost their life due to injustice brought upon this great nation from foreign enemy. So because we may have a president someone doesn't agree with, they will burn a flag?
Did flags get burned when other radical republicans were elected? I don't believe so. How about when those radical republicans disagreed with a democrat who won the presidency instead of them? Yet again, I don't believe so.
This spurred the college to take action and remove the flags all together which shouldn't be the solution but sadly it is. You remove your sign of patriotism to prevent flags from being burned. Just not right. This also isn't the first time that flags being flown was a hot topic in Amherst either. Only in the last few years there was debate on flying flags on 9/11. That to me isn't a question. Luckily, an official decided to pass into effect to fly flags on that hallowed day.
An official from the school has gone on to say this,
Well, to be honest, the flag should not have been lowered in the first place, because that just shows outright intolerance for what has happened. - Shamtum Jha
That I agree with, what I wonder is what position and whom did the order come from within the school? That person should face some consequence.
As I said previously, I didn't and don't support Trump, I didn't and don't Hilary Clinton. Regardless, everyone should respect and honor the American flag for everything it stands for. Everything this country has had to endure to make that flag mean what it means. Not disgrace it due to the person that won the presidential election. I am a proud American and come from a deep military family and don't like seeing the symbol that defines our great country disrespected in such a reprehensible way. That's all I'm saying...
Tell us your opinion on the matter. Do you agree with the school to stop flying american flags all together?