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Sunday, January 15, 2006
9-year-old sets example for all
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Forget the tears.
Put aside, for a minute, whether you think it’s disrespectful to paint a U.S. flag on the ground in a cul-de-sac. Or that to do so defaces property.
Let’s focus on character traits. Stuff we don’t see enough of. Things like humility, strength and responsibility.
Rachel Renbarger exudes them. She’s the 9-year-old girl in Duluth who, with her sister, innocently painted an American flag in the center of her subdivision’s cul-de-sac. It was a July 4 project, but this well-intended civics project turned sour.
A World War II veteran considered the image disrespectful. Restore the flag’s dignity by removing the image, he implored.
City officials likened the painting to graffiti, a comical assertion to those of us who live in southwest Gwinnett.
We know graffiti. We’d welcome the image of a flag as opposed to what we see every day.
The flag flap took on a life of its own. National media took notice. Residents took sides on whether to let it stay or pressure wash it. While everybody got worked up, Rachel stepped up.
She and her father did some research on Old Glory — how to properly display it. They learned that an image on the ground — one that people can walk on and where dogs can do their business — wasn’t befitting of a national symbol. It violated the dignity of the flag.
So last week, a tearful Rachel addressed the Duluth City Council.
“I am so sorry,” the fourth-grader said. “We will do whatever it takes to remove it — me and my sister. I am so sorry.”
We witness countless situations in which CEOs, politicians, athletes and other newsmakers do wrong, then blatantly pass the buck. Seldom do they express remorse or accept responsibility. It’s their world. Nothing else really matters.
Sadly, they don’t get what Rachel apparently already knows. That with actions come consequences. Sometimes repercussions. And that regardless of the outcome, you have to deal with it.
“It’s nice to see someone with accountability,” wrote Marcus Spencer in the Badie blog.
“It’s even better when they might have trouble even spelling the word. At least some parents are doing their job nowadays.”
Initially, Rachel’s image and the brouhaha that ensued grabbed our attention. But when all has been said and done, when the flag is removed by city officials later this year, that’s not what we should remember.
Let’s remember the poignant way she stood before a group of adults, told the truth, apologized, then offered to help fix the problem.
Then, let’s try to emulate her.
