‘The View’ Discusses The American Flag

“The View” marked the Fourth of July weekend with a segment that managed to turn a broadly patriotic holiday into another culture-war argument.

Across the country, Americans celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with fireworks, parades, cookouts, and plenty of American flags. For many people, the Stars and Stripes remain a straightforward symbol of the country itself: its history, its freedoms, its sacrifices, and its ideals, even when those ideals have not always been perfectly lived out.

But on Monday’s episode of “The View,” co-host Sunny Hostin said the flag can make her feel unsafe.

Hostin told the panel that there are times when she enters a community, sees American flags displayed throughout the area, and immediately feels uneasy. She argued that some people have “coopted” the flag and connected it with white supremacy, saying the American flag should never be allowed to become a symbol of that ideology.

Her comments drew immediate attention because they framed a national symbol, one flown by millions of Americans from all backgrounds, as something that can signal danger. Hostin’s point seemed to be that white supremacists sometimes use American imagery, and that this affects how she interprets the flag in certain places. But critics saw the comment as an unfair insult to ordinary Americans who display the flag out of pride, not extremism.

There is no serious argument that white supremacy is acceptable, and no one should want violent racists as neighbors. But it is also a major leap to suggest that American flags across a community should be viewed as a warning sign. The flag belongs to the country as a whole, not to fringe groups that try to attach themselves to it.

Hostin’s broader argument also raised questions because she tied the issue to fear and race in America. Yet data on violence against black women does not support the idea that white strangers are the primary threat they face. According to the Violence Policy Center, black women who are victims of homicide are often killed by people they know, including spouses, partners, acquaintances, or family members. The group also reported that, in 2020, 91 percent of homicides involving black female victims were intra-racial, meaning the victim and offender were of the same race.