American Flag during ‘Anti Racist’ era symbol of what?

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On a fall afternoon, Mark Hurley, a retired Army and Marine veteran, was doing chores in his yard in Bennington, Vt. Hurley has two American flags flying in front of his home.

“Let's talk slavery first. That happened two or three hundred years ago," Hurley said. "We should forget that, be beyond that. To me, as long as people are calling themselves African Americans or Jewish Americans, they're allowing the racism. They should be saying they're Americans, period."

But many of the roughly 1,800 people who responded to NPR's call out, especially people of color and those who lean more liberal, said it's not that simple. They told us the American flag comes with baggage that can't be ignored.

With all the protests and the Black Lives Matter stuff happening, we took the flag down for a little bit," said Kevin Lopez, who works for Microsoft in San Pedro, Calif.

Denise Lopez, an artist and designer, said for her the decision to reclaim the flag felt like part of that struggle.

"It was like a pit in my stomach," she said. "It was almost like, is it now like what the Confederate flag felt like for my parents? And I was like no, I'm not going to feel that way every time I see an American flag."

We heard a lot from people who shared this worry the U.S. flag has been weaponized, deliberately redefined as a more conservative symbol owned by some Americans more than others.

Regardless of race or political persuasion, a lot of Americans we heard from say they do see the U.S. flag as a hopeful and beautiful symbol, even in a time of deep national division when it has different meanings for different people.

An Vu told NPR he flies the flag over his front porch in Dearborn
"I hope that flying the flag can return to what we felt like after [Sept. 11]," he said. "The sense of unity, the way were able to grow together after that was really amazing."

A lot of people told NPR that kind of national unity and shared meaning feels elusive now. For that reason, many have chosen to fly the flag next to other symbols to give it more personal context.