A flag is a piece of cloth or similar material, typically oblong or square, attachable by one edge to a pole or rope and used as the symbol or emblem of a country or institution or as a decoration during public festivities, according to dictionary.com.

Lately, social media has been swarmed with different protests for and against the Confederate flag, and while that flag only represents a portion of the United States, it is still getting more attention in the media right now than the flag that represents the entire country — the American flag.

Louis Farrakhan, Sr., leader of the religious group Nation of Islam, made a statement about the American flag while giving a speech at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington D.C.

“I don’t know what the hell the fight is about over the Confederate flag,” Farrakhan said. “We need to put the American flag down. Because we’ve caught as much hell under that as the Confederate flag.”

Farrakhan’s speech, along with other actions, such as the stomping of the flag, known as the “Eric Sheppard Challenge,” are calls to end racism in the United States. But we cannot fight fire with fire.

Disrespecting the symbol of America’s freedom is not going to stop racism.

Farrakhan’s speech claimed that the American flag is a symbol of white supremacy, when truly, America is a melting pot for all different races. Whether you are black, white, tan, pale, tall or short; if you live in this country, you are an American. The American flag represents all of us, no matter the color of our skin.

By taking down the American flag and stomping on it, you are not disrespecting white people, you are disrespecting all American people, including that of your own race.

American soldiers have died for years, protecting that flag and what it stands for. People who are stomping on the American flag should be ashamed of their actions and the disrespect that they are showing for the people who are fighting every day for their freedom. The U.S. military has been serving and protecting us since the beginning of our time as a nation, even going to war within itself to end slavery, but still – to people such as Farrakhan – that is not enough.

While it is a First Amendment right to stomp on the American flag, I, for one, will never do it. I will hang the flag high and proud in support of this country that we live in, knowing that I am lucky to be an American.

As long as people are being judged by the color of their skin and not by their behaviors and their character, we will have racism in this country. Changing racism begins with loving your neighbors no matter what color they are, and being grateful that we have the opportunity to live side by side, with equal representation for all, in the United States of America.