Mara Gay is a media powerhouse. As a member of the New York Times editorial board, she wields a lot of power and sway about what does and does not get reported in the news. Although her day job may be very important to the news industry, it was a recent appearance on the MSNBC Morning Joe show when Gay shocked viewers with her observation that there were a lot of American flags flying in Long Island, New York.
Gay explained that seeing so many American flags attached to pickup trucks “disturbed” her to no end. She had taken a visit out of New York City into Long Island and spotted the numerous flags being flown, which she felt was a response to a coalition of citizens who feel threatened by non-whites and immigrants.
“The reality is here that we have a large percentage of the American population — I don’t know how big it is, but we have tens of millions of Trump voters who continue to believe that their rights as citizens are under threat by simple virtue of having to share the democracy with others,” she said.
Gay added, “I was on Long Island this weekend visiting a really dear friend, and I was really disturbed. I saw you know, dozens and dozens of pickup trucks with explicatives (sic) against Joe Biden on the back of them, Trump flags, and in some cases just dozens of American flags, which is also just disturbing because essentially the message was clear. It was, this is my country. This is not your country. I own this.”
Gay proposed a solution to the perceived problem. She believes that in order “to get every American a place at the table,” the country’s leaders need to work at separating “whiteness” from “Americanness.”
During the MSNBC broadcast, Gay shared her Long Island American flag story in response to host Mika Brzezinksi calling for further investigation into the Trump supporter riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Although Gay’s comments on the Morning Joe program were received with open arms, social media users lashed out in blind rage at her assertion that America needs to change to be more inclusive for all types of people instead of just whites.
“Why is skin color even being brought into this discussion?” tweeted Matt Haubrich. “This narrative is disgusting, and they keep peddling it, and Joe’s panel says nothing. I find people who group everyone in boxes very disturbing.”
“American flags is now considered hateful what the hell is going on with our country,” posted another active Twitter user.
Harry McNeir tweeted, “As a son of a WWII [veteran], I proudly display the American flag on the front of my house.”
Other Twitter users shared more comments, including the following:
“Wow, dozens of American flags, the horror of it, lol.”
“Wait, now a pickup truck with an American flag is now racist?? What’s next saluting the American flag?”
What do you think about these comments made about the American flag and whiteness on MSNBC?