J.C. Watts, a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, said despite the recent efforts by the RNC to focus on outreach to minority voters, his party has a lot of work left to do.
“I don’t think you lay a couple of bricks and say the house has been built,” said Watts, who is black. “That flag not being in a museum, it teaches a sermon before they ever say a word.”
A flag is a symbol which evokes a message. That message can have different meanings to beholders. I’m of Irish decent. To me, displaying the Irish flag means I’m proud of my heritage. However, a Brit may view it as support for the IRA and may be offended. We fly our own American flag to show our own pride and support for our country. On the same token, a Japanese person could be offended by the American flag because we imprisoned innocent citizens of Japanese descent in concentration camps during WWII. Folks proud of their southern heritage may fly the Confederate to show such pride in their rich and interesting culture. However, it is easy for many to be offended by the darker side of what was condoned by the Confederacy back in the day. What message is evoked by the Nazi Swaztika? That flag is actually banned in Germany. The point here is for us to be mindful that, regardless of what we consider our message to be, it may not be interpreted simarly by others. In this integrated society we live in, we need to equally consider, uplift and respect all.
The closing paragraphs say it all.
J.C. Watts, a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, said despite the recent efforts by the RNC to focus on outreach to minority voters, his party has a lot of work left to do.
“I don’t think you lay a couple of bricks and say the house has been built,” said Watts, who is black. “That flag not being in a museum, it teaches a sermon before they ever say a word.”
A flag is a symbol which evokes a message. That message can have different meanings to beholders. I’m of Irish decent. To me, displaying the Irish flag means I’m proud of my heritage. However, a Brit may view it as support for the IRA and may be offended. We fly our own American flag to show our own pride and support for our country. On the same token, a Japanese person could be offended by the American flag because we imprisoned innocent citizens of Japanese descent in concentration camps during WWII. Folks proud of their southern heritage may fly the Confederate to show such pride in their rich and interesting culture. However, it is easy for many to be offended by the darker side of what was condoned by the Confederacy back in the day. What message is evoked by the Nazi Swaztika? That flag is actually banned in Germany. The point here is for us to be mindful that, regardless of what we consider our message to be, it may not be interpreted simarly by others. In this integrated society we live in, we need to equally consider, uplift and respect all.