Americans should be very proud and honored to stand for the American flag, whenever and wherever it is flown.
In the past several years, however, domestic leftist America-haters have made standing for “Old Glory” controversial, advancing the claims that our nation is not only not perfect, it is “systematically racist” and suffers from “whiteness,” even though ours is the best “melting pot” in the world. Further, as was affirmed in a shocking decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, our taxpayer-funded schools have the legitimate power to ban the display of the American flag, so as to not “offend” students—a policy with which many college professors agree.
Still, the growing radical leftist movement prefers to demonstrate its disapproval of America by kneeling before the flag,
Here are 10 reasons why every American should be proud of our flag:
1.) America was discovered by the very courageous explorer Christopher Columbus, in 1492. He was followed by British explorers in 1584, 1607 and 1620, though most could not survive even one winter. Yet 200 years later, after the Louisiana purchase, explorers Lewis and Clark were commissioned to explore the lands from St. Louis to what is now Washington state in 1803-1806.
2.) The 54 signers of the America’s Declaration of Independence risked their lives and possessions, in 1776, to assert this nation’s sovereignty and end its affiliation with Great Britain, the superpower of the day. Close to 25,000 American militia and soldiers died to gain our independence.
3.) The 13 colonies came together to merge, through compromise in 1776, for their 2.5 million citizens. The U.S. Constitution was then ratified in 1787, after heated but compromising discussions, followed by the Bill of Rights in 1788.
4.) Francis Scott Key wrote the soaring words of his poem “Defense of Fort M’Henry” in 1814, after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Those words became “The Star-Spangled Banner” and gained popularity when a congressional resolution in 1931 made it the official national anthem, signed by Republican President Herbert Hoover.
5.) The unanswered question of slavery was resolved in the Civil War of 1861-1865 when President Abraham Lincoln (founder of the Republican Party) directed the Northern victory over the Confederate south. Republican efforts to include liberated black Americans in our civil rights structure were opposed by Democrat Jim Crow laws, the Democrat-created KKK and other Democrat-dominated groups, which lasted 100 years, until 1965.
6.) More than 100,000 American soldiers died to save Europeans from killing each other in World War I. Another 400,000 American soldiers were killed in World War II, which saved Western civilization, for us.
7.) America defeated the totalitarian dictatorships of the Soviet Union and its satellite nations in the Cold War of 1946-1989, thereby freeing hundreds of millions of citizens in Eastern Europe, and partially freeing 150 million Russians.
8.) America is the only nation in the world that can protect free peoples from domination by socialist tyrannies in China and Russia, and Muslim supremacists (Islamists) led by Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.
9.) America is the land of opportunity, which has created the largest innovation system in the history of the world, employing 150 million people. In only 250 years, led by America, the average lifespan has risen from 30 to nearly 80, by curing or controlling virtually every major disease—including, soon, COVID-19.
10.) Because those who stand by the American flag are standing against the demands of the evil “cancel culture,” racists of all stripes, and the so-called “progressives”—who are actually regressive. Those who stand for our flag stand for the rule of law, for equal protection under the law, for equal opportunity, for freedom of speech (versus political correctness), freedom of religion and for minority rights.
For these and many other reasons, we proudly stand for the American flag.
Ken Abramowitz is the president and founder of SaveTheWest.