Macy Gray Says It's 'Time for a New Flag'

The American flag… Discuss! Because Macy Gray thinks she’s in dire need of an update.

The musician wrote a MarketWatch op-ed in honor of Juneteenth, Saturday’s holiday commemorating the delayed emancipation of enslaved Black people in Texas, arguing that “it’s time for a new flag,” one that “represents all of us.”

Published on Thursday, Gray’s op-ed points out that the nation’s flag with its 50 stars and 13 stripes has come to be embraced by American white supremacists, as demonstrated by its heavy usage during January’s siege on the U.S. Capitol:

[T]he American flag has been hijacked as code for a specific belief. God bless those believers, they can have it. Like the Confederate, it is tattered, dated, divisive, and incorrect. It no longer represents democracy and freedom. It no longer represents ALL of us. It’s not fair to be forced to honor it. It’s time for a new flag.

Instead, Gray suggests that our current flag could feature 52 states in honor of D.C. and Puerto Rico, which both “have been lobbying for statehood for decades”; off-white stripes rather than “purity and innocense” white because “pure [this country] ain’t”; and stars the color of various, diverse skin tones.

In closing, she writes:

In 1959, 17-year-old Bob Heft designed the current flag for a school project when there were only 48 states. Hawaii and Alaska were up for statehood and Bob had a hunch they’d get the nod. He crafted a NEW flag with 50 stars for the then-future, because things had changed.

Sixty-two years later, in 2021, we have changed and it’s time for a reset, a transformation. One that represents all states and all of us.

Thoughts?