College Professor: US Flag Not Patriotic (Ithaca Professor Blasts US Flag as symbol of war)
Federal Review ^ | 4/20/06
federalreview.com
ITHACA, NY—A professor at Ithaca College is attacking that school’s use of the American flag on its athletic uniforms.
Writing in the Ithacan, Stephen D. Mosher, a Professor in the Department of Sports Management and Media, claims the use of the flag on sports uniforms violates athletes’ right to free speech:
Many non-citizen athletes are expected to wear the national flag of the country where they play, yet cannot participate in its democracy. Most importantly, the process attaching the flag to uniforms during the buildup to the first Iraq War, in 1990, was almost always done without the participation of the players who wear the uniforms, thus denying them their free speech rights.
The professor also mocked the people who choose to wear the flag:
It is laughable to hear this action is an expression of patriotism when it is so closely associated with supporting war.
This is not the first time employees at Ithaca College have attacked the flag and what it represents. In 2001, shortly after September 11, a faculty member reported being accused of “jingoism” by other employees for “simply flying the American flag.” |
