I really don’t know whether Kate Cohen’s July 12 op-ed, “The far right can take the Betsy Ross flag,” was serious or tongue-in-cheek. And that’s the problem. If this is a battle in the culture war, then let’s make this a decisive battle. If the Betsy Ross flag is a symbol of slavery, then every national flag until the 36-star flag, adopted on July 4, 1865, was a symbol of slavery. All these flags should be banned from being flown and relegated to museums. The 36-star flag, 1865-1867, was the first official flag after the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude, was passed. Thereafter, our national flag ceased to be a symbol of slavery, but all succeeding flags to the present 50-star flag do remain symbols of racism. How we deal with them is a battle for another day. Then there’s the question of those shameful 13 red and white stripes. Ah, so many battles to be fought.
I still don’t know whether this is revisionism gone wild or attention-seeking temper tantrums — or maybe it’s just the middling sort rattling our respective left-right cages.
John Conradis, Chevy Chase
I was disappointed with Kate Cohen’s op-ed stating that we should cede the Betsy Ross flag to the right wing. As someone who has studied American history my whole life and as a historical interpreter and a flaming liberal, I have no interest in doing so. Ross represented an entrepreneurial woman in the age when entrepreneurial women were few and far between. As a Quaker, she likely opposed slavery. I proudly fly the Betsy Ross flag to show my support for entrepreneurial women everywhere, as well as the ideals of America for all time. To cede the Ross flag to the right wing is simply a cop-out. Ms. Cohen should know better.
Barry Lurie, Bala Cynwyd, Pa.