may be see it as a symbol of freedom but how they know, right? campus reform talked to a college student and asked what they thought. what s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the american flag? represents the union of all people but there s clearly not a union amongst all of us. there s clearly semistructural inequities. honestly kind of look what s been going on with the country with all the rights and stuff. think the flag is a symbol of america and obviously america has done some horrible things. that s part of our very complex history. shame, honestly. speak i felt like if i had the american flag and was associate with the american identity i was associated with a lot of bigotry and a lot of racism. and sexism and not stuff that i would like to think about the american flag symbolizing. i a symbol of hurt. i m african-american.