Why, according to a recent AP-NORC survey, the majority of Black Americans claim they never fly the US flag. – Every day, Jerry Esters proudly hangs the American flag from his Detroit residence. Yvonne Pistochini, who lives a few miles away, said there is no circumstance in which she would permit the Stars and Stripes to throw its shadow in her neighborhood.
They’re both Black.
According to Esters, the flag stands for the chances that made it possible for the great-great-grandson of slaves to prosper. The 79-year-old Pistochini only states that the America represented by the flag is not the same nation she saw as a child.
According to a recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research ahead of the country’s 250th birthday celebration, Americans’ opinions on “Old Glory” are split by politics, age, and race.
Younger Democrats and Black adults are more likely to say they don’t fly the American flag, whereas Republicans and older white individuals are more likely to say they do. Views of the flag, and whether it is a unifying or divisive symbol, correspond with other profound distinctions among Americans, who have quite diverse perspectives on the history and achievements of their nation.
According to Matthew Delmont, an American history professor at Dartmouth College, “many Black Americans see the flag as a symbol of both inclusion and exclusion.” “Black Americans are more aware than white Americans that the flag can be used to support an exclusionary form of patriotism in which it is used to say, ‘You don’t belong here.'”
2,596 adults were surveyed between April 16 and 20. It implies that the flag is more likely to be seen as unifying by older white Americans, particularly Republicans.
Approximately 50% of American people reported flying the flag at home for the majority of the year or on holidays. Approximately 70% of Republicans and 60% of Americans over 60 fly the flag at least on holidays.
Conversely, almost 60% of Democrats and independents said they “never” fly the American flag. This includes 75% of Democrats under 45.
Possibilities worth battling for
At his Sherwood Forest residence on the west side of the city, Esters, a 64-year-old retired clay sculptor for a Detroit automaker, displays three American flags.
“Black men like me, my mother, and my family couldn’t even purchase these homes when they were built,” he remarked. That’s one of the reasons I fly the flag, in my opinion. This is what we battled for, and we went through a lot to be able to buy wonderful homes.
Esters’ great-great-grandmother, Moriah Martin, who was born into slavery, is another factor.
He remarked, “I’m kind of living out her dreams—what I did for a living, having a business, having a nice home.” “I believe that’s the American way, but as Black people, we had to fight for it.”
According to the survey, just over 3 out of 10 Black adults say they ever fly the American flag, compared to roughly half of white and Hispanic persons. This puts him in the minority among Black Americans.
According to Pistochini, the flag shouldn’t represent the contemporary conflicts over political beliefs and viewpoints as well as the unequal opportunities faced by the underprivileged and people of color. She said, “People confuse flying it with being patriotic.”
Pistochini stated, “You are not a patriot just because you fly a flag.” “All of this would not exist if there was patriotism. We cannot claim that this is America based on what is happening.
For freedom and nation
For many Americans, the flag is a significant symbol of patriotism, according to Ben Gaskins, head of political science at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
According to Gaskins, “it is those who are older, white, and more conservative.” “They consider it to be more essential to who they are.”
Nancy Hansen, a 73-year-old retired Culvertson, Montana, Customs and Border Protection clerk, feels that the flag represents “freedom” and that “you have to be for the country, no matter what.”
Hansen, a white Republican, stated, “Freedom to live where we want to live, travel where we want to travel, and raise our kids where we want to raise our kids.”
Every year around July 4, the American Legion hangs flags outside Culvertson residences and businesses, including Hansen’s.
Greg Cunningham and Linda also associate freedom with the flag.
This summer, the white, traditional couple from Pontiac, Michigan, is going all out. Their house northwest of Detroit has a red, white, and blue facade. Only a few feet from their door, the flag is perched atop a flagpole.
“It has nothing to do with politics,” stated 63-year-old Linda Cunningham. It’s our liberty. The American flag is something I adore. I adore the idea behind it. I adore America. I understand that everyone has their own opinions and that there is a lot going on in the globe at the moment, but I find it terrible that politics must be included in the flag.
Mark as a “painful reminder”
According to 47% of respondents, the flag is a “more unifying” emblem. 36% of respondents feel it is neither unifying nor divisive, while 16% see it as a “more divisive” emblem.
Compared to 55% of white people and 42% of Hispanic adults, only 22% of Black adults view the flag as a unifying symbol.
It’s an agonizing symbol. Black novelist and founder of Writers and Editors of Color Allison Wiltz stated, “It’s a reminder of what we could be and how it’s failed to live up to that for Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color.”
Paul Walthour, 71, occasionally raises the flag outside his home in the Minneapolis region on holidays and special occasions. According to Walthour, the flag is raised every morning and down at the end of the day while he is away from home and at his cabin.
“Maybe this is outdated,” remarked Walthour, a white former creative director of an advertising agency. “I think it’s a sign that you take pride in being an American.”
Walthour, a Democrat, continued, “Unfortunately, I kind of think it’s kind of a symbol of dividing more than uniting.” “Those who fly it on the far right feel one way about it, while those who fly it on the left feel another.”
Williams is a member of the Race & Ethnicity team at AP. From Washington, Sanders and Parwani reported.
Using a sample taken from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is intended to be representative of the U.S. population, the AP-NORC survey of 2,596 individuals was carried out from April 16–20. For adults as a whole, the sampling error margin is within 2.6 percentage points.
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