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Letters to the Editor:

Symbols of unity
Vittorio Sigonella and Joseph Esposito -

Symbols of unity are a very ancient custom indeed. On a national level, we use flags. The Student Assembly’s proposed resolution is redundant: we are at war and our flag will do just fine.

As for Ms. Green, I respect and defend her feelings about our flag. I would never require her to display the flag or recite the pledge. This is still a free country, although our “free society” and lifestyle may have vanished.

I wonder just what her “opinions, ideas or ideals” are and why they are contrary to what she thinks the flag stands for. I sincerely hope she does not want American flags removed, as they offend her. She should learn to be as toleant of the majority as they are of her. Trying to force us to acquiese to her ideals is the same kind of fundamentalism we are currently fighting. She is free to do as she pleases, and so am I.

VITTORIO SIGONELLA

I am writing this letter in response to the Oct. 19 article “SA resolves to create a symbol of unity.” I’d like to start off by saying that everyday I thank God that I am an American, and when I read your article I actually felt disgusted. Let me start with what the American flag means to me.

The American flag symbolizes goodness. Why? Because everything that we have in this country is so good that we don’t even realize it. We have so many rights that we often take for granted. We have so much freedom that at times we abuse it. I believe that the strength of a country is based on the goodness of its people. That’s why we are so great.

The American flag is a symbol of peace. Everyone loves to bad mouth the U.S. when we go after the bad guys, but if we don’t do it then who else will? The last time we decided to just mind our own business we got Hitler. I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who wants that to ever happen again. That is why the U.S. acts like a police officer. Without the U.S. constantly intervening, do you really think there would be peace in the world?

The American flag is a symbol of tolerance. Anyone of any religion can come and worship here. Sure, there’s bigotry and prejudice in this country. I’ll be the first to admit it, but don’t think for a minute that bigotry is isolated to the U.S. It exists on every continent in every country.

The United States makes mistakes. To say that it doesn’t is just plain ignorance. The important thing to remember, however, is that the U.S. always tries to do what is right, and we’re always learning from our mistakes. We all owe a lot to the U.S., and the last thing we should do is bad mouth the flag. My personal opinion is that if you dislike a country, you probably shouldn’t live there. All Americans are united under the flag. Even when the U.S. does make a mistake, we’re still united together. We don’t need a new symbol of unity; we’ve got one already.

JOSEPH ESPOSITO