From a very young age, I was taught in school to appreciate and respect the American flag as a symbol of our nation. However, I have grown to question this over-allegiance to the lessons of history and nationalism that my teachers have preached. They've created textbook definitions out of the colors - red, white, and blue - that are woven into the flag that has represented our country long before I was even born. But the meaning infused in this essential part of United States culture, I argue, does not reflect most of the cultures living within the states.
RED:
It represents valor, they say, depicting the blood shed by those soldiers who've fought in war for our country. Okay, yes, but who usually comes to mind when we talk about this? The military men pictured in the highly-famed recreation of the flag on Iwo Jima? This common perception does not account for the struggles of the bloodlines of over half of our country's population. Where are the stories of the blood shed by black slaves who literally built the foundations of our nation? I think that's true "valor" and courage, but why is it missing from the most basic history lessons?
WHITE:
It signifies purity and innocence. If this is the global understanding of the color white, then what does that make the color black? Or brown? Or any other color that opposes the blankness and "purity" of white? This is sending the wrong allegorical message when colored children look at the pigments of their own skin and question their innocence. And more severely, when those with the privilege of being white look down on those with black or brown complexions and automatically assume impurity and guilt in all their actions.
BLUE:
It means justice. But recently this idea of "blue" - or more specifically "blue lives" - lacks this very justice that the color is related back to. Our American government constantly claims justice, freedom, and diversity but rarely makes effective attempts in cultivating this within today's communities. The justice that this blue so proudly represents cannot exist if our society is structured upon a white hegemonic hierarchy.
Bottom Line: Educators in the United States need to reevaluate their approach in teaching our children and talking about "American History" to be more racially and culturally inclusive.
