To The Reader’s Forum:

The formula is familiar: The Reverend Mel McGinnis takes an ideologically charged issue, stirs it up with a series of Christian Nationalist talking points, and throws in a context-free condemnation of the Biden administration. His latest example of this formula, “Tale of Two Cities and Flags,” is true to form.

I won’t attempt to sort out the logic of McGinnis’ faith-based argument. But his praise of Jamestown’s conservative flag display glosses over an important omission: the current Mayor refused the request of local Seneca residents to raise the Six Nations flag at City Hall (Tracy) plaza.

That flag had been raised last year for the first time in Jamestown’s history, honoring the Seneca’s ancestral home (i.e. every square foot of Chautauqua County). The current administration’s excuse for denying the request? A policy of “neutrality.” And according to McGinnis, we must stick to the American, New York State, and veterans-related flags–symbols which,”unite us all.”

This begs the questions: who are “we,” and what exactly unites us all? Apparently, we are a nation where nothing exists beyond allegiance to the United States and its official emblem, where history is whitewashed to exclude First Nations’ existence and contributions to the American story and forcibly bent toward a white, heteronormative, Christian, fundamentalist future.

Fortunately, the Robert H. Jackson Center is open to raising the Six Nations flag later this year. While the Center isn’t a seat of government, it does stand for equality, fairness, and justice. Thus, it may be a more fitting home for the Six Nations flag, underscoring the intolerance of Jamestown’s current administration and civic identity. We can learn a lot from the Haudenosaunee, a culture which remains committed to democracy and tolerance, despite our nation’s dark history of attempts to exterminate it.

McGinnis concludes his article with a seemingly innocent question: “Which flag represents you?” For him, there’s only one right answer: the sackcloth “flag” of Christ. He flirts with the fusion of the stars and stripes and the symbol of the cross, a union specifically denied by the Founders, despite many recent attempts to erase that fact.

The subtext of our national moment should be lost on no one. When a Supreme Court Justice displays flags associated with authoritarian insurrection (the upside-down American flag) and Christian Nationalism (the “Appeal to Heaven” flag), many Americans like me can confidently say that those emblems don’t represent us. We literally fought a war over this, and Robert H. Jackson prosecuted the murderous, authoritarian losers.

We should honor our collective right to celebrate who we are as individuals and as a community–whether it’s the American flag (properly displayed), the Pride flag, or the Six Nations flag. The conclusion of the Pledge of Allegiance rings true: “with liberty and justice for all.” American history is not just about one flag; it’s a progressive process of flying multiple flags that represent us all.

Eric Jackson-Fosberg

Jamestown