The colors red, white and blue have different meanings for different folks. I look at them and I see a flag that represents America all over the world. It is home, life, love and happiness. Its warm arms embrace me and keep me safe. For a friend of mine those colors represent freedom for his people, a better life and a place he is proud to call home now. For another friend these three colors represent terror, slavery and mistrust. For him the colors remind him of every wrong America’s made. When he sees people waving these colors as a proud gesture of this nation, he sees only a political statement; a love of the President and their God being shoved into his face.

I am proud to be an American. I am proud of this place I call home, proud of everything it stands for and everything it does. I do not agree with everything that happens here, the laws and the people who are in power. I don’t like certain events of the past that demeaned human beings, tortured them and killed them without a second thought. I don’t agree with the American doctrine that “more is better,” especially when people use it as an excuse to eat themselves into obesity. I may not like things that happen here, but I love it here. All the things that are bad about this country are nothing compared to how wonderful it is. Show me a perfect nation - a nation without violence, a nation without flaws. There isn’t one, but America is the closest we’ve got. I live here, my grandparents lived here and their grandparents lived here - going all the way back to when our country was first founded. Yes, we came over and stole this land from people that were already here - do I think it was the right thing to do? Probably not. But I cannot go back into the past and change history. I live in the here and now. I feel no guilt, because simply I had nothing to do with it. People came here and did what they felt was right, I only live in the dream they had for this country. I hate that Americans took people from their homeland, shipped them over here and used them as their personal slaves. There are many things that Americans did in the past that are sad and embarrassing. The thing is, America didn’t do these awful things, people living here did. They brought shame to the name and symbol that is this nation. I am not going to let them blind me from what this country is all about. People who had passion for this country fought hard for it, their blood was shed for it and they won. There were more people who disagreed with those horrific ways of life then the ones who enjoyed the suffering of others. This is a nation that has redeemed itself time and time again, and I am proud of the good men and women who stood tall for what they believed in and never backed down.

I learned something a few weeks ago, what the term “flag wavers” means. Apparently, it refers to people who see waving the American flag as a political statement. They do it only to support our current President and their God, not the country as a whole. And just by being proud of the flag I’m automatically lumped in with those people? I don’t think so. The flag is bigger than them. I also found out that there are people living in America, who are Americans (born and raised), and who hate America. This hurts, because I could never imagine anyone living here and not loving this nation. I was a moron who figured if you didn’t like it here, you should move out. It really is that simple: if you can find happiness elsewhere - then by all means get out! I have read things that make me laugh, because these people spend too much time trashing this place they live in, but yet they stay here. Why, if they hate it so much? The wonderful thing about this country, is that those narrow-minded fools can bash and rip apart America out loud and in public, and they won’t be jailed like they would in China, or worse. They have that right as Americans; this country was built deliberately so that in the year two thousand and six people could walk around and openly say that they hate America, the president, the government and god without repercussions. We have the right to pick our own god, or not have any at all, and not die by the hands of a ruler because we are free to think for ourselves. We have the right to pick what life we want and how many children we have. No, America is not perfect - what is? Christianity rules the powers that be, and I hate that! I don’t agree that we should restrict marriage - we are a free nation - right? I don’t agree with the way the government treats the disabled. I don’t agree with how the poor are treated, people without medical insurance….etc, etc, etc. But the thing is, the powers that be are not this nation, they didn’t built the foundation of this land we live in now, they didn’t give us the rights we have and they did not put the red, the white, and the blue on a flag and dub this land America. And the thing is - after they’re dead and gone this thing we call America will still be around, because it’s an idea that’s bigger than any of us and will outlast us all. When I stand for the pledge and put one hand over my heart, I am not saluting the morons in office or the government we have right now. I am saluting that enduring idea. I am saluting the good men and women who have fought to keep this idea alive and make this the best place they could. I am saluting every law I agree with and feel passionate about. I am saluting the legend of good ol’ Betsy Ross who sat there and hand sewed a flag she was asked to make to be the symbol of this great nation while men died fighting for it.

America has a giant-sized immigrant problem here right now (nothing new, it’s always been here). The government is freaking out and immigrants are running around scared of being caught and sent back to their home country. Why is America having this problem? It is simply because it is better here then where these immigrants have run away from. We are all descendents of immigration; someone in our family tree wanted a better life for their family and moved to America to get it. I believe this is their salvation, the answer to end their own personal hells. A student I work with was pissed off at America, because the American government was trying to push his family out and back into Mexico. I told him to go and ask each one of his family members why they want to stay here so badly, why it’s so important to be here when they were at risk of being caught and sent back to Mexico. My student is very proud of where he was born - as he should be, but he is also very proud to be an American. This is the country his family brought him to, believing it was a better life for them all. He has a great passion for the country he was born in and for the country he now calls home.

My Grandfather fought in World War II and was wounded badly. He believed in the nation he fought to protect and those he went to defend. I am proud of him and everyone else who has been in every war America has been a part of. In the 60s and 70s it was disgusting as idiots who embarrassingly called themselves Americans stood and spat on the soldiers as they came home from hell. I don’t even understand the mentality there, as I am sure there was none. Just one of so, so many brainless things done during those two decades. We need to look at what we have and not pout about what has happened. Things in the past are in the past, and there is no way we can go back in time to correct that. Look into the future and decide what you want for your children. I want mine to be proud of this nation they will probably call home, embrace it with their souls and stand proud with the colors red, white and blue waving before them.

I am proud to be an American. Happy 230th Birthday America!

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