Macy Gray Wants New American Flag To Represent Diversity Of The Country

Macy Gray said she wants people to take her idea to change the American flag “seriously” and is working towards launching a petition to bring supporters together.

“We’re writing a letter starting with a few congressmen who we think might support us,” Grey told ITK.

Gray spoke up about her idea on Juneteenth when she called for a “new flag” for the United States.

After seeing the flag was being held by rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, Gray said that the flag appeared “tattered, dated, divisive and incorrect.”

“It no longer represents democracy and freedom. It no longer represents ALL of us. It’s not fair to be forced to honor it,” she wrote. She said that a new design should include two additional stars to include Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., and different colors to represent “your skin tone and mine – like the melanin scale.”

“At the end of the day, all I did was make a suggestion,” she said during the interview on Tuesday after facing backlash.

“I’m not saying get rid of the American flag, I’m saying here’s an idea for the next flag,” she continued, adding that it has been updated over the years. “There’s a star there that’s my skin and there’s a star up there that’s the color of your skin, and the message is that our country has finally embraced all of us.”

“I never said I didn’t like the flag,” she continued. “You might not like your TV, but that doesn’t mean you don’t like television. You just want a new one. I love my country – and I know everybody has to say that – but I actually do. That was never the issue as to whether or not I’d like to be here.”

When Gray was asked about her opinion on seeing hammer-thrower Gwen Berry turn away from the American flag during the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, she restated her support for giving the flag a design update.

“Present something that everybody can embrace and something that they don’t have a reason to turn their back on. Like if you see yourself in the stars, you look crazy turning your back on it because you’re included,” she said. “I think a lot of people don’t feel that this country as a system has been on their side.”

She later said that neither former President Donald Trump nor President Joe Biden has spoken about the idea to change the flag.

“I think some people think that there’s a lot of people who don’t belong here, based on how they look, and if it’s in the flag and there’s a flag says: ‘No, you’re wrong. If you are an American citizen, you are an American citizen, regardless of what you look like,” she said. “Save [Trump and Biden] the trouble and just put in in our flag and make the meaning of it clear – like the meaning of the flag shouldn’t be ambiguous, it shouldn’t be scary to one person.”