The issue is not a flag but unity
As an American, (not just a black American), I have been reading all of the commentary around the Confederate flag and its use as a symbol of racism. While I too find the display of this flag offensive, making it exclusively about race will keep us divided and misses the larger point about its history.
As Americans, we should absolutely reconsider the emphasis and role placed on the Confederate flag by a state and its citizens. Given the long list of things we say are un-American, why is this not on everyone's list?
The outcome of the Civil War determined that we would have just one country, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
A lot has happened since then, including another 100 years of Jim Crow laws after the war. But we have a United States flag that represents all 50 states and its people of all races and we all call ourselves Americans.
Today, we sit at a crossroads. Will we continue to divide ourselves along racial lines or finally put our differences aside?
Flawed as our "one nation" seems at times, we are inextricably joined together as one. What affects one, ultimately affects us all.
If America were ever attacked, there would be no choosing, for we'd all have to act as one nation of brothers and sisters to defend it.
Food for thought.
Daryll D. Fletcher
Mundelein