Will Wahony, who currently has over a million followers on TikTok attracted viewers to sign a petition to change the United State of America flag and anthem. Surpassing over a million signatures, it is proposed to replace the blue in the top left corner to black owing to the Black Lives Matter movement and red stripes with yellow ones. It was said that people who were in favour of the petition wanted to add the image of the character ‘Manny’ from ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ book series.
The author of the book series, Jeff Kinney clarified that although he supports the Black Lives Matter movement, he does not feel right about the usage of one of his characters on the American flag. He says that using a fictional character to the American flag and symbolizing it with movement trivializes the overall cause.
Given what is happening in the USA, the protests against police brutality and racial discrimination against the black community, the petition garnered plenty of signatures. However, many Americans were against signing this petition.
The petition titled ‘Changing the American flag and National Anthem’, it states that “Our flag is outdated, doesn’t portray a good message, and frankly, is ugly looking. Generation Z has developed this prototype for our flag as we dive into our future of the U.S.A.”
The petition has also received flak for trivializing an important cause and distracting attention to a grave issue.