Flag Battles In Massachusetts

Flags are, by the their nature, entirely symbolic. Maybe that helps to explain why liberals get away with such utter nonsense whenever they talk about them. The New York Times reports on liberal attacks on the state flag of Massachusetts.

When former State Representative Byron Rushing first looked closely at the Massachusetts state seal, he could not believe his eyes.

Created in the 19th century, the official seal, which appears on the state flag, depicts a colonist’s arm brandishing a sword above the image of a Native American. It includes a Latin motto that roughly translates as: “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.”

Mr. Rushing, a Democrat, viewed the seal as threatening and denigrating to Native Americans; he also saw it as contrary to the image that progressive Massachusetts likes to project.

That was in the 1980s, but the left never quits. Attacks on the flag, which a Democratic representative says “is traumatizing, particularly to tribal groups,” have intensified. Here is the “traumatizing” seal as it appears on the state’s flag:

How scary can you get? As always, the debate over a flag’s symbolism allows liberals to ride their favorite hobbyhorses:

Regardless, he said, his view is that a sword seems inappropriate in this day and age.

“Should we be putting a weapon in the state seal?” [the chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Commission] asked. “Given the violence in this country, no one would suggest we put a gun in someone’s hand,” even in an illustration.

And, of course, attacking the flag means attacking American history, an important part of the Left’s project:

Next year marks the 400th anniversary of the [Mayflower’s] arrival. The meaning of that event has undergone significant revisions over time, morphing from a comforting tale of new arrivals and native people peacefully coexisting into one of land grabs, enslavement, rape and genocide.

“Land grabs, enslavement, rape and genocide.” That is the New York Times version of American history. The Left seeks to impose it on all of us.

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