Opinion: Flag wavers and white Christians do not have a monopoly on patriotism

To the editor: Joan C. Williams makes good points about the urgent need for progressives to stop dissing blue-collar Americans. The class divide has enabled President Trump, a billionaire who has never done physical work in his life, to pass himself off as a regular American guy. (“Even on July 4, the working class and the elites don’t see eye to eye,” Opinion, July 4)

I’m not sure if I am elite, but I am college educated, and I refuse to cede patriotism to only those in Middle America. I fly the flag on all patriotic holidays and choke up hearing the national anthem.

Patriotism is not about flags and colors; it is really about being a responsible citizen and voting in every election, keeping informed, letting our representatives know what we think, demonstrating when appropriate, protecting the environment of this incredibly beautiful country, and maintaining dialog with people whose views are different from ours.

That is what patriotism means to me, and I think Williams could find great numbers of “the elite” who are truly patriotic.

Marge England, Garden Grove

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To the editor: I thought we were finished blaming the Democrats for not connecting with the “poorly educated” wing of the white working class.

Williams spent three print columns explaining the cultural differences between the elites and the white working class, concluding that it is “economic justice” that the latter wants.

Huh? The white working class has chosen cultural values over economic progress for decades, continually returning to power those who vote against their material interests. Democrats can talk all day about jobs and wages, but if they open their mouths once and say “women’s rights,” they’re dead meat.

This time the “non-elites” jumped off the deep end and went for the wildest liar yet — and Williams wants Democratic Party officials to “get of their high horse”?

David Weaver, San Juan Capistrano

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To the editor: Williams’ piece on the patriotism political divide brought to mind an incident that occurred a couple of decades ago when my then-husband and I moved into the house I still live in.

My husband, who had been raised in a working-class neighborhood, decided to make a public display of patriotism by hanging an American flag in our front yard. A neighbor called me up to politely tell me that doing this was not customary on our street. Miniature flags were OK, I was told, but larger ones like ours were considered a kind of eyesore.

For my husband, his unwelcome flag-flying was not only a way for him to show his attachment to his homeland, but also to express support for many of his old friends who were military veterans. He had grown up surrounded by “defenders of freedom” in an area were most people displayed the American flag for the entire period between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

But in our new neighborhood, doing this was considered tacky.

Berta Graciano-Buchman, Beverly Hills

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