Tennessee state Rep. Henri Brooks (that’s a gal, by the way) is getting her 15 minutes of fame right now for her refusal to salute the U.S. flag during the legislature’s traditional Pledge of Allegiance ceremonies.
“This flag represents the former colonies that enslaved our ancestors,” says Brooks, who is black. “And when this flag was designed, they did not have us (black people) in mind.”
Brooks’ history is, of course, a little flawed. Today’s flag did not fly over any colonies. And millions of Americans serving their country under the U.S. flag gave their lives in the cause of eradicating slavery.
Yet, as much as we might reject Brooks’ knee-jerk anti-Americanism, it’s time for a serious look at the whole issue of saluting the flag.
While I have not personally refused to Pledge Allegiance to the flag, I’ve got to tell you that there’s something about it I just don’t like.
Here’s my beef: We honor the flag in America, but not the Constitution. The flag is a mere symbol. The Constitution is the real thing. We should revere it and honor it. We don’t even pay attention to it anymore.
And the Constitution is a symbol as well as a real document – a literal guidepost to maintaining – or now, perhaps, to recovering – America’s freedom.
But it can only serve that function if we as a nation abide by it, pay heed to it, live by its code and its spirit.
Oddly, the Pledge of Allegiance never even refers to the Constitution.
Therefore, which symbol is worth saluting? To which symbol should Americans pledge allegiance? Which symbol is worth dying for?
The flag is not my pick.
After all, it is just a symbol – and it’s a symbol that means different things to different folks, as Ms. Brooks illustrates.
There’s one more substantive issue I have with the Pledge of Allegiance. What is this “indivisible” garbage? No contract should be indivisible – and therefore binding on all parties whether they want to participate or not. On this issue, the South was right. Secession was a well-accepted idea among the Founding Fathers and is totally in line with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. After all, the Founders had broken the bonds between the colonies and Great Britain. None of them believed that a new government should rely on force to keep the republic together.
I may not have joined Ms. Brooks’ protest yet, but, believe me, I never say “indivisible” when I recite the pledge. That “i” word is not in line with the letter or the spirit of the Constitution.
Here’s the larger point, however. Symbols are important. But the Constitution is more. It is both symbol and substance. And its substance is being desecrated every day – not just by misinformed, misguided folks like Ms. Brooks, but even by many of those so piously concerned about the symbolic desecration of the flag, or the importance of saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
A national survey taken recently found that less than half of American adults would vote for the Constitution if it were on the ballot today. That’s scary. And, to that, I say, thank God there is no requirement for a referendum on the Constitution. Thank God our Founding Fathers had the foresight not to create a democracy in America.
In Washington today, our elected leaders in the executive branch as well as the legislative seldom give thought to constitutional limits on the scope of the federal government’s authority when they craft laws or sign them. That’s real desecration of the Constitution – and it takes place every day in America.
We have entire bureaucracies established now – costing tens of billions of dollars – that have no justification for existence under the Constitution. That bothers me much more than Rep. Brooks’ decision not to salute the flag in Tennessee.
The Constitution, along with the Declaration of Independence, represents more of a national creed and mission statement for our country than it does a simple founding document.
But the non-believers are winning the day. Not even the Constitution – that brilliantly crafted, inspired document – has the power to hold us together today.
Maybe, instead of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag in school every day, that time could be better spent reading the Constitution. And, maybe, if, instead of saluting the flag, our elected representatives in statehouses across the country and in Congress spent their time reading the Constitution – and reaffirming their oaths to it – our country would be a lot better off.
