Liberal Amherst College Stops Flying American Flag – “Symbol Of Fear”
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Nov 23, 2016
After the presidential election, the liberal Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts made the decision to lower its U.S. flag on campus to half-staff due to, at least according to president Jonathan Lash, “a range of views on campus, including people whose experience growing up have made the flag a symbol of fear, which was strengthened by the toxic language during the campaign.”
According to CBS Boston, the “gesture” quickly sparked outrage on campus among veterans and their families which ultimately resulted in someone removing the flag on Veterans Day to burn it.
He said the trouble started with a gesture meant to help provoke “meaningful and respectful dialogue” on campus–a stance he outlined in a post on the college’s Facebook page. In that post, he said the Board of Trustees decided to fly the flag at half-staff due to the “environment of escalating hate-based violence” in the wake of the election.
Lash said the gesture was also meant to be an “expression of grief” over deaths around the world, including those of U.S. service members. Unfortunately, the move didn’t work as planned, and many–especially veterans and families of veterans in the Hampshire College family–saw it as being disrespectful of the tradition of expressing mourning on a national level.
“Frankly, doing that, it didn’t help,” he said. “Flying the flag at half-mast just created more controversy.”
The Rest…HERE
