Is The American Flag Really Our Flag?

By Camilo Echeverri Bernal on October 13, 2014

As the anger escalates and the injustice becomes too much to tolerate, protesters in St Louis have resorted to burning the American flag as a way to protest the recent death of Vonderrit Myers, age 18, just over two months after the death of Michael Brown, which shone light on police brutality in this country that goes unseen unless people begin to act in a manner that calls enough attention to the events.

image via http://www.nowtheendbegins.com

It was reported that Myers shot at an officer, which in turn led to the man’s death. However, Myers’ parents said he was unarmed, and that he was targeted due to his race. The area and the police department might have to prepare for other such protests, as seen in Ferguson following Brown’s death.

The protesters shouted “no justice, no peace!” as part of the demonstration. Burning the flag is one of the forms covered under the First Amendment. It wasn’t always so until 1989. However, we must ask: is the American flag really our flag? Does it represent all of us living in the U.S.?

image via http://www.washingtontimes.com

“It’s not our flag,” said one of the protesters in St. Louis to USA Today. “Our children are being killed in the street. This flag doesn’t cover black or brown people.”

Police moved against the protesters on October 9. The officers wore riot gear. They pepper-sprayed the crowd as they claimed some amongst the crowd had turned violent against the officers. A knife was allegedly thrown at one of the policemen.

Recent footage has surfaced showing Myers buying a sandwich moments before being shot by police. The officer stopped Myers and upon claiming he saw a gun when pursuing Myers during what is claimed to have been a “pedestrian check,” he proceeded to fire 17 times.

A 9mm gun was found on the scene and they are claiming it belonged to Myers.

“Police lie. They lied about Mike Brown, too,” Myers’ mother was heard saying. Until now, the name of the officer responsible for Myers’ death has not been identified. He is said to be on paid leave.

One thing we must ask ourselves is: does the red, white and blue really represent us all?

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