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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) |
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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) |
What the American Flag
Stands For
by Charlotte Aldebron
The American flag stands
for the fact that cloth can be very important. It is against the law to let
the flag touch the ground or to leave the flag flying when the weather is bad.
The flag has to be treated with respect. You can tell just how important this
cloth is because when you compare it to people, it gets much better treatment.
Nobody cares if a homeless person touches the ground. A homeless person can
lie all over the ground all night long without anyone picking him up, folding
him neatly and sheltering him from the rain.
School children have to pledge loyalty to this piece of cloth every morning.
No one has to pledge loyalty to justice and equality and human decency. No one
has to promise that people will get a fair wage, or enough food to eat, or
affordable medicine, or clean water, or air free of harmful chemicals. But we
all have to promise to love a rectangle of red, white, and blue cloth.
Betsy Ross would be quite surprised to see how successful her creation has
become. But Thomas Jefferson would be disappointed to see how little of the
flag's real meaning remains.
Charlotte Aldebron, 12, wrote this essay for a competition in her 6th grade
English class. She attends Cunningham Middle School in Presque Isle, Maine.
Comments may be sent to her mom, Jillian Aldebron: aldebron@ainop.com