Goldsmith is an attorney and former law partner, judge, state legislator, San Diego city attorney and Poway mayor. He lives in San Diego.
Last month, Macy Gray, a Grammy-winning singer, ed the ranks of entertainers speaking out on public issues.
Gray made a media splash by announcing it is time to redesign the U.S. flag in an essay in MarketWatch. America is “broken and in pieces,” Gray wrote. The flag “no longer represents democracy and freedom. It no longer represents ALL of us…. It’s time for a new flag.”
I respectfully disagree.
The flag has always been steadfast in what it symbolizes — a nation built upon the unique premise of individual freedom and that we all have individual rights that government cannot take away.
It is an ideal, a goal that we strive for.
Our nation has achieved amazing results under this ideal.
We have unprecedented freedoms such as the right to free speech, association and religion, due process and equal protection under the law, as well as the right to own and use property.
Our rights allow someone with an idea to become a business owner and an opportunity to rise from poverty.
They allowed Macy Gray to amass an estimated $12 million to $23 million net worth for singing songs.
Someone can write a book or give a speech that others disagree with, engage in peaceful protest and advocate for change in America without fear of government retribution.
Our rights protect us from loss of property or liberty without due process of law and from discrimination based upon race and other characteristics. And they allow for personal choices about marriage and gender identity.
Millions of people have given their lives to protect these rights under the banner of our American flag.
Some would counter by describing the horrors in our nation’s history. And, yes, it is indisputable that our history includes horrors, for example, slavery and its aftermath for many years.
It is no excuse that all nations have horrors in their history, some that are unimaginable.
America is supposed to be different.
But it was not individual rights that caused these horrors.
They were caused by those times in our history when this nation failed to protect those rights.
We should never forget or minimize horrors.
We should never allow horrors to happen again.
And we should never forget that defense of our individual rights is the best protection from future horrors.
Today our nation is more divided that at any time since the Civil War.
There is much anger in the air.
It is a dangerous and volatile time we live in.
But all is not lost.
Regardless of our differences, we should rally around the ideal of freedom and that all Americans have the right to be treated as individuals with cherished rights.
We should reject doctrines and agendas that would destroy our rights, and we should never allow bigotry, racism or other means to subvert them.
America will only become “broken and in pieces” if our freedom and individual rights are destroyed.
Together, we should never allow that to happen.
America should always remain land of the free and home of the brave.
