I’m furious a 12-year-old was shamed for patriotically wearing our flag at summer camp

In my South Aspect Chicago Summer time Camp we have now simply wrapped up for eight weeks of pure, unfiltered youth. Kids splash in water parks, explored the countryside, discovered monetary literacy and made speeches to construct belief. Not as soon as, politics crawls into the image. That’s the way it must be – a refuge the place youngsters may be youngsters, free from the division of grownup agendas.

So think about my shock concerning the summer season camp concerning the summer season camp the place my good friend’s daughter was current. Nestled in an age-old mountain paradise of bushes and lakes, it regarded just like the All-American Camp to that it was not.

On July 4, my good friend’s 12-year-old daughter proudly wore an American flag shirt, a nod to the journey of her household of slavery and segregation for freedom and alternatives. They’re a household who is aware of the errors of America, however nonetheless sees her as the best nation on earth.

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At breakfast, one other camper confronted her over the flag shirt. “How are you going to consider in a rustic that your individuals have achieved horrible issues?” The woman demanded. She then parroted vogue phrases for social justice about “white privilege” and “systemic racism and referred to as the fourth pointless celebration till” true equality “is achieved.

My good friend’s daughter, a sensible woman herself, pushed again and pointed to the progress of her household as proof of America’s promise. However she stood towards a brick wall of unhealthy faithfulness anti-Americanism, fed by rehearsed strains over colonized land and Indian atrocities and oppression rights. The trade left her empty and her pleasure for a day of extra pleasure, s’mores and patriotic singing across the campfire, light.

It did not cease there. Days later the camp pressured the youngsters in a ‘privilege stroll’. They have been hand in hand, solely to be shared by questions comparable to: “Step forward in case you are racially profiled in a retailer”, or “In case your mother and father have taught you the way to deal across the police.” My good friend’s daughter, pointing previous her years, refused to play this recreation that youngsters burned like oppressors or victims. Good for her.

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This story cooked my blood. Summer time camp isn’t a spot for political crusades. Kids are born innocently – allow them to keep so long as doable. That doesn’t imply that they’re shielded towards actuality; It signifies that they don’t poison their thoughts with poisonous tales that America paint as inherently poorly. What’s the level of giving a 12-year-old as a result of he loves her nation?

Our kids deserve camps stuffed with pleasure and discovery, no lectures about why they need to be ashamed of their nation. (Jacob Hamilton/The Bay Metropolis Occasions through AP.)

This obsession with politicizing our youngsters should cease. They deserve the liberty to develop into impartial thinkers, no pawns in somebody’s ideological struggle.

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They deserve camps stuffed with pleasure and discovery, no lectures about why they need to be ashamed of their nation.

It’s time for us to let youngsters be youngsters once more. And it is time for us to battle for this sort of fully American existence earlier than it is too late.

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