College Professor Says American Flag Makes Him ‘Anxious’

A Marquette University professor said the American flag makes him “anxious” in a National Public Radio interview Wednesday.

Philosophy Professor Grant Silva told an interviewer with WUWM, an NPR affiliate station in Milwaukee, that he feels “anxious” when he sees an American flag. In the interview, Silva described how “excessive imagery” of American flags is borderline “nationalism.”

“I also get a little bit anxious around the excessive imagery of the flag in part because in my experience, patriotism quickly slips into nationalism,” Silva said. “Especially the simplistic version of patriotism, the flag-waving, my country love it or leave it kind of attitude. That is just a hop, skip and a jump away from becoming nationalism.”