The father of a University of North Carolina (UNC) student spoke out on Wednesday after his son — assisted by other members of his fraternity — defended the American flag amid anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests across the campus.
Jeff Goldklang shared his thoughts in a post on X after photos and videos of the fraternity brothers — who sang the national anthem as protesters insulted and threw things at them — in a post to X.
“Our son’s fraternity is going viral for holding an American flag off of the ground, respecting all that it has stood for. 99.9% of the positive response has been GOP or right of center,” Goldklang observed, asking why Democrats did not seem to share the same sentiments. “Has it become bad politics for Democrats to respect our flag? I feel it has, which is brutal.”
That said, please don’t co-opt their actions for political reasons. They acted in spontaneous service of the American and (for several) Israeli flag. Unlike the mob they were protecting the flag from, they’re not pawns. Just boys who respect what those flags stand for.
— Jeff Goldklang (@JeffGoldklang) May 2, 2024
Goldklang went on to say that he did not want to see the fraternity brothers — who had simply acted in the moment out of their respect for their country and its flag — used for political reasons.
“That said, please don’t co-opt their actions for political reasons,” he said. “They acted in spontaneous service of the American and (for several) Israeli flag. Unlike the mob they were protecting the flag from, they’re not pawns. Just boys who respect what those flags stand for.”
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UNC student and Pi Kappa Phi member Guillermo Estrada shared his story in a series of posts that went viral, saying that he had felt called to action after growing up in a military community and seeing the sacrifice so many have made to protect that flag.
“My fraternity brother and others ran over to hold it up, in order for it not to touch the ground. People began throwing water bottles at us, rocks, sticks, calling us profane names. We stood for an hour defending the flag so many fight to protect,” he said. “I grew up in a Military community and saw first hand the sacrifices they make. I will not stand for the disrespect these ‘protestors’ cause for the sake of another country.”
