R&B singer Macy Gray said America must create a new flag, arguing that the current American flag has been “hijacked” as it fails to represent all Americans, according to a MarketWatch op-ed Friday.
“President Biden, Madame Harris and members of Congress: the American flag has been hijacked as a code for a specific belief. God bless those believers, they can have it. Like the Confederate [flag], it is tattered, dated, divisive, and incorrect,” Gray wrote in her op-ed. “It no longer represents democracy and freedom. It no longer represents ALL of us.”
“It’s not fair to be forced to honor it,” she said. “It’s time for a new flag.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist argued that the American flag’s stars ought to include all skin tones rather than being solely white in order to include all of the nation’s citizens. (RELATED: ‘To Equate The American Flag…With Whiteness Is Insulting’: Leo Terrell Chides NYT’s Mara Gay For ‘Racist’ Remarks)
She proposed, “What if the stars were the colors of ALL of us-your skin tone and mine-like the melanin scale?”
Singer @MacyGraysLife says the flag should be redesigned to represent all Americans #JuneTeenth2021 https://t.co/CfaqiwIDhO
— Silvia Ascarelli (@SilviaAscarelli) June 17, 2021
Gray argued the flag should have 52 stars to represent Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico to reflect that lawmakers have proposed both the nation’s capital and territory to become states. The singer said the opposition to D.C. and Puerto Rico’s proposed statehood is “racist,” claiming it stems from the assumption that the representatives, likely being African American and Hispanic, would be Democrats.
“Assuming D.C. reps would be African-American and Puerto Rican reps would be Hispanic, the ultimate assumption is that these elected officials would be Democratic. That alone is racist,” she said.
The R&B singer critiqued the flag’s 13 stripes arguing that they represent a “broken” nation rather than the “purity and innocence” that it intends to symbolize.