Did the nation and its ideals for which the flag is a symbol "redeem itself by vanquishing the treasonous confederate states"? No. It began to redeem itself by abolishing slavery. It continued to redeem itself during the following century-and-one-half as official discriminatory practices and attitudes were partially chipped away--very slowly and with frequent backsliding--but picking up speed when President Truman integrated the armed forces, when the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education, when administrative orders under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson reduced much discrimination in the Executive Branch and agencies, when President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act and appointed Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court, when President Nixon consented to Affirmative Action, when majority white constituencies began to elect black representatives, such as Ed Brooks (R), Senator from Massachusetts. When all the other laws, administrative actions, and elections rolled in faster and faster. When a black man, General Colin Powell, was appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff thus giving him, a black man, practical control over many really big, loaded weapons! When another black man, Barack Obama was elected President.
Yeah, you could say the nation symbolized by the Stars and Stripes has come along way towards redeeming itself from having allowed that curious institution, which it inherited from the colonial powers, to persist for nearly eighty years after the Constitution went into effect.
There is still work to do. Blacks still make less than whites for equal work. Blacks still have less access to good education. Blacks are still more likely to be convicted of the same charge than whites and receive stiffer penalties when convicted of the same crime. Blacks still live in less healthy conditions and have shorter lifespans. I could go on but you get my point.
The story of overcoming discrimination against blacks has been played out in similar, although less epic fashion, concerning so many other racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual groups. Securing the blessings of liberty as part of forming a more perfect union is one of the great themes of American history. It has been a glorious story marked at every turn by clashes and sacrifices. One that continues today and will continue as our nation improves itself and finds the ways to live up to its great ideal.
