For a good while now, I’ve been waking to a serious political and cultural need in our country. We’re Americans, but our identity as a nation has gotten far too bound up in the notion that the federal government somehow defines who we are as a people: American = United States = Washington, DC-centered living.
Our Union, though, is only part of what makes us American. Statehood is just as American as Union. Both are essential to a truly American spirit.
Banding, Binding, and Bonding
We were founded on the understanding that a group of individual states would band together to accomplish what they couldn’t if kept completely separate. But the states are still “individuals.”
In the founding years of our country, we were Pennsylvanians, Virginians, Rhode Islanders, South Carolinians, and nine other self-directing groups of people. Now we’re also Oregonians, Iowans, Floridians, Nebraskans, Hawaiians—fifty in all. That’s what makes the United States unique.
Sovereign states formed a legally and politically binding way of living together as one but able to determine their own ways of life. We’re all proud to be Americans, yet honoring what makes each state special contributes to the well-being of everyone.
As a result, we all have a dual identity as citizens of individual states as well as a unified country, and the mutual affection has formed a rich bond as Americans.
Stating Our Purpose
I must admit that I’ve wondered why state sovereignty matters so much. I’ve mulled over the need for less centralized authority. I’ve puzzled on how to help increase the power of states with respect to the federal government. But I’m not an overtly active, outwardly political guy.
I’ve spent a good many years fairly overwhelmed just trying to make ends meet and raise my eight children and have never figured out how to work in a lot of political activity (but my hat’s off to anyone who does manage to pull off the Superman blend of home, work, and politics). As Dirty Harry once said, “A man’s got to know his limitations,” and mine seem to be many.
Then, an idea unfurled one morning as I drove to town. I passed restaurants, banks, homes, and shopping centers, appreciating the inspirational sight of Old Glory outstretched in a stiff, balmy breeze. In what we used to call during my ad agency days a “blinding glimpse of the obvious,” I recognized something missing from the scene.
Not one flagpole, balcony, doorpost, or rooftop displayed a Tennessee state flag. I felt a hollowness I’d never experienced before while watching a flag on display. Part of our national identity was missing because the state identity was gone.
We are Americans, but we’re also Tennesseans, Georgians, Texans (don’t mess with ‘em), Californians, New Yorkers, Hoosiers, Buckeyes, Tarheels, and I realized that one simple act on the part of every flag-waving American home, business, or church would rivet in our minds the double inspiration of being part of the United States of America: When we hoist the Stars and Stripes, each of us should raise our state flag, too.
I’d love to see citizens, businesses, churches, and any organization that displays a flag to recognize and appreciate their own state’s identity by flying the state flag whenever and wherever the U.S. flag is on display. When the flag of Kentucky, Wisconsin, Idaho, Arizona, or Mississippi waves proudly below or on the right hand of Old Glory, it’s a riveting reminder of what we all stand for, because what we see is what we get.
It would be great to see our individual flags flying—in Vermont, Wyoming, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Mississippi, Delaware, Montana, Kansas! We are Americans. And we should state that clearly.