Will America Be Buried in a Flag?

The use of symbols is intentional.

(Image: Getty/MattGush)

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I’ve never told anyone this story.

When I was six or seven and living with my mother and stepfather in an apartment building, the school bus would come pick me up in the parking lot near the flagpole.

Now, as an adult, I can’t remember the last time I saw a standalone flagpole at an apartment building, but there was one here. It had its own small island of grass and everything.

I don’t know how it started. Maybe I saw a movie or something—this was very much in the pre-internet-is-ubiquitous days—but one morning, I remember watching as the property manager hoisted the flag up the pole in that halting way one does, the skips and lurches of the rope and the clattering bangs of the metal clips against the pole itself, and suddenly, I did a really weird thing: I saluted the flag as it went up.

Again, I have no idea where I got that. I’m fairly certain no adults taught me. I was just a kid being a kid.

The property manager, Mr. Ramirez, got a huge kick out of it. I can still see his delighted grin, which I didn’t understand at the time. I was just glad it made him smile.

On some mornings when I was running late, he would wait for me before marking the official start of our day.

I don’t think I understood why I was saluting or why he seemed so pleased by it. I did it because it brought us both joy.

It was such an innocent thing, and I remain convinced that it didn’t mean much more to either of us than simply the pleasure of taking pride in something.

But that was 1992 or 1993, and we’re now in 2021, when even this small anecdote about a small, weird child and a bemused adult can take on enormous implications and spur furious debate over patriotism, nationalism, white supremacy, etc.

Depending on the reader, it can come across as lighthearted or creepy, heartwarming or disturbing — it would seem, for many folks, our politics have reached a point where there’s no longer a place where something like this can be a pleasant and corny moment.

There’s a reason for that.

About a month ago, I got into some hot water on Twitter with many conservatives after I agreed with this observation from NYT journalist and editorial board member Mara Gay during an appearance on MSNBC:

I was on Long Island this weekend visiting a really dear friend, and I was really disturbed. I saw, you know, dozens and dozens of pickup trucks with expletives against Joe Biden on the back of them, Trump flags, and in some cases just dozens of American flags, which is also just disturbing … Essentially the message was clear: This is my country. This is not your country. I own this.

Gay also said this:

I think that as long as they see Americanness as the same as one with whiteness, this is going to continue.

All of this is quite true. Gay said nothing out-of-step with reality, and I think everyone willing to be honest with the current situation in our country would agree.

But we don’t really live in a time of honesty about nationalism, do we?

So, I offered the following:

Charlotte Clymer 🏳️‍🌈 @cmclymer

As a military veteran, I completely agree with Mara Gay. It is disturbing. Large American flags on trucks are performative nonsense that are absolutely intended to communicate that America is a conservative, white country. It's an intentional signal. She's right.

Fox News @FoxNews

NYT, MSNBC's Mara Gay: 'Disturbing' to see 'dozens of American flags' on trucks in Long Island https://t.co/ticjt68VSr

Charlotte Clymer 🏳️‍🌈 @cmclymer

This is what Mara Gay is talking about. I'll speak for myself here: I've folded countless American flags for the loved ones of fallen service members, and when I see this, all I can think is: "Yeah, that person is definitely an asshole and most likely a coward."

Unsurprisingly, you’d have thought I claimed it’s completely fine and normal to drown puppies as a hobby.

Conservative Twitter descended, as they do, with fury and indignation that anyone would have the audacity to challenge the display of an American flag.

There were many death threats, of course, along with the usual nonsense when someone is “insufficiently nationalist” for these fools: asking why I even live here if I don’t like it, etc.

Somehow, in the span of a day, my agreement that flags-on-the-back-of-trucks are meant to send a signal about white nationalist views became “she thinks American flags are racist symbols” and then, of course, simply: “She hates America”.

Those claims came as news to me. I display an American flag at my home and have an American flag decal on my car, which, I will admit, is far more expression than the average person living here.

I served my country in uniform, far more than most of these hypocritical cowards would ever be willing to do, but because I pointed out something that’s fairly obvious at this point—that there is a strong sense of white nationalism behind this orgy of star-spangled flag waving—I somehow hate my country.

The brutal truth is that we’ve arrived at this point specifically because of the incessant need of conservatives to claim that Real America™ is only for those who embody or support white conservative culture.

They don’t seem to know what that is, by the way, and any attempt to hold them to their own standards of jingoistic bullshit is met with rage and incredulity or more often than not: deafening silence as they hope you’ll look the other way.

They talk a lot about the Bible and the Constitution when it’s not readily apparent that they’ve read either.

They respect the military until any member of the military disagrees with them, up to and including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

They respect the police until the police try to hold them accountable, and then, they are enemies of the people, who must be taken by force.

They respect the Constitution until a Black athlete peacefully kneels during the National Anthem to protest white supremacy and police brutality.

They're all about Christianity until confronted with their own sinning, and then, it becomes God’s will that they sin in order to deliver God’s glory.

Their supposed politics, their supposed religion, their supposedly proud lives... all boil down to a simple statement of values:

"You must agree with us, or else."

And while doing this, they hide their supposed values—or rather, lack of values—behind the American flag, daring anyone to disagree with them and risk being labeled anti-American, and after all that, they have the audacity to talk about how our country is so divided and lamenting the hyper-politicization of our country’s symbols.

The call is coming from inside the house. This is always who they’ve been.

People like this don’t love America. They love themselves. They love centering their own discomfort in every nook and cranny of the public discourse and having the gall to call it “patriotism”.

And let’s be honest: they wouldn’t have it any other way. More than anything, they love being able to engage in this performative anger, this convenient outlet for their rage that mostly comes from white supremacist discomfort that anyone other than a God-fearing, conservative, cisgender, heterosexual white person would succeed in America.

I’d say only white men there, but… well, you know.

Do you get what I’m saying? If most conservatives had to choose between my little harmless, warm-and-fuzzy anecdote at the beginning and a delicious, flag-related controversy they could sink their teeth into, they’re choosing the latter every single time.

They want the American flag to be a symbol of white supremacy. They want it to reflect Christian extremist views. They want it to exclude others.

They’re the reason the American flag is no longer a symbol of unity. Them and them alone.

I refuse to accept that.

No, I don’t believe the American flag is a symbol of unity, but I believe it can be. I don’t think America itself is an exceptional country, but I believe it can be.

I think we have so much potential to be truly great, and yet, half the country seems hellbent on hurting the other half based on a Bible they haven’t read and a Constitution they don’t defend.

I believe in what America could be despite its many flaws, and that should be sufficient enough to call myself a patriot.

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Hi, I’m Charlotte Clymer, and this is Charlotte’s Web Thoughts, my Substack. It’s completely free to access and read, but if you feel so moved to support my writing, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription: just $7/month or save money with the $70/annual sub. You can also go way above and beyond by becoming a Founding Member at $210.

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