WarFolly.com - 'Flag Turning' And The East India Tea Company

'Flag Turning' And The
East India Tea Company

by Tony Naz

2-26-3

Toni Smith plays basketball for Manhattanville College located in Purchase, N.Y., about 30 miles from NYC. Its mission is "to educate students to become ethically and socially responsible leaders for the global community." Smith, a senior sociology major, apparently has taken the mission to heart.

Before each game this season, she has purposefully turned away from the U.S. flag as the national anthem has been played. Smith never expected her quiet act to cause a commotion, and for most of the season, it went almost unnoticed. But, during a Manhattanville home game, a Vietnam veteran ran onto the court and held an American flag in front of Smith's face.

"She disgraced herself and she disgraced the flag," he told the Associated Press after he was ejected from the arena.

It can't be easy for Smith, being singled out this way for her beliefs, yet she has not wavered in her silent protest. Her detractors think she's anti-American, a common reaction to any protest involving the flag. Smith, a New York City native, has so far refused to speak publicly about the reasons for her protest. But she released a written statement last weekend.

"For some time now, the inequalities that are embedded into the American system have bothered me," she wrote. "As they are becoming progressively worse and it is clear that the government's priorities are not on bettering the quality of life for all of its people, but rather on expanding its own power, I cannot, in good conscience, salute the flag." The statement also mentioned the government's impending war against Iraq.

Turning one's back on the flag during the playing of the national anthem can be a very effective form of anti-war protest. It is also a protest against the corporations who presently shape our governments domestic and foreign policies. The original design of the American flag was actually taken from the *ensign of the East India Tea Company (a corporation), whose cargo of tea was dumped in Boston Harbor. Yes, the Boston Tea Party!

*See- http://www.fotw.ca/flags/gb-eic.html

The story of Betsy Ross meeting with George Washington in 1776 is in fact not true. Most scholars agree that it was not Betsy Ross who made the first flag, though she was a flagmaker who, records show, was paid in 1777 by the Pennsylvania State Navy Board for making "ship's colours."

So, the next time you hear the national anthem and it's time for you to stand up and salute the flag, keep in mind that you are primarily saluting a corporate logo and the policies of war mongering for the private interests and benefit of the corrupt Bush administration. 'Flag turning' can be a valid expression of patriotism. There comes a time when you must pledge allegiance to your conscience and turn away from the flag.

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