Letter to the Editor: Words Matter

(The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by Decorah City Council Member Emily Neal):

In 1976, my mother dressed me up as the Statue of Liberty for the bicentennial of our nation. My sister was the Liberty Bell and our best friends, twins, went as the American Flag. My mother is many amazing things, but one thing she is not is a seamstress. So, being the resourceful, creative and practical woman that she is, she used tin-foil to make my crown and my torch. It is one of my earliest memories and one of my fondest. The 4th of July celebrates the best ideals of our nation, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The American Flag is the symbol of those ideals.

At the City Council meeting on June 6th, Tom Hansen described his President Trump flag in the following way "This flag is anybody, this is for America, for all Americans, making it great for everybody."

If I had been on the city council at that time I would have said, "We have a flag for this purpose, it's called the American Flag".

When I left the council meeting that night, I was deeply frustrated by the Winneshiek County Republicans' argument to put person above country. We don't do that in America. My words that night to the gentleman who wanted to fly a Trump Flag on the 4th of July were direct and poignant, I said "What? Is the American Flag not good enough for you anymore?". That was it, nothing more.

I'm not interested in a partisan fight for city council, or a he said/she said battle in the media. What I am interested in, is working hard for Decorah and addressing the issues that matter to us, meeting the needs our residents, growing a strong local economy and building a resilient and sustainable future."