Patriotism as Theatrics
A common trope in modern American politics is the idea that the Republican Party has a monopoly on patriotism
A flag flying in front of a home or a “Support Our Troops” bumper sticker is often assumed to signify the political affiliation of its owner: these are the emblems and symbols of right-wing patriotism.
Upon closer inspection, we’re guilty of misappropriation. We see these symbols and think: this is patriotism. Yet this represents a watering down of patriotism to nothing more than idolatry and cultish allegiance to symbols and slogans, rather than the principles they are meant to embody.
One of Trump’s most effective strategies has been to harness the power of this misappropriation, this tendency to conflate mindless jingoism with genuine conviction, to equate practices like belting out the anthem with living out its ideals. He bottles and sells this shallow patriotism at every rally and with every tweet.
For at least the last decade, probably coinciding with the Tea Party wave of the early 2010s, love of country has come to be seen as indistinguishable from xenophobic nationalism and hyperpatriotism. Patriotism has become synonymous with ostentatious allegiance to things instead of ideas and a refrain that any negative commentary on American attitudes, behaviors, or policies is somehow a departure from respect and love for one’s country. When Obama gave a speech in Turkey, in his first year as president, containing the words, “Our country still struggles with the legacies of slavery and segregation, the past treatment of Native Americans,” he was described by his critics as “apologizing for America.” Patriotism now entails whitewashing our past?
Liberals, to their credit, did not go along with this reconceptualization of patriotism. Admittedly, part of the reason they did not was that this jingoistic showiness was so embraced by the right that liberals felt joining in the practice would have meant siding with their political enemies; they were right to fear that joining in on the excessive flag-waving would cede the definition of patriotism to the right. What they didn’t realize is the right still got to define patriotism—today, the right has an invincible belief that all their red, white, and blue-ism constitutes patriotic fervor.
The truth is, the liberal departure from bipartisan shows of reverence for American symbols has allowed the Republican Party to create a narrative that portrays affection for one’s country as mutually exclusive with progressive or liberal ideals. It’s a false narrative, of course, but one deeply drilled in the collective cultural psyche.
To see the shallowness of this conception of patriotism, notice how it serves personalities rather than principles. Look no further than the way Republicans have clamored to support Trump’s policies, even when those policies have directly contravened a principle integral to the American founding and to longstanding conservatism as well. Take an institution like the Bill of Rights. Trump has freely talked of endorsing torture, locking up political enemies, restricting press freedoms, and much more. That’s fine, conservative patriots will set him straight, right? Well…it turns out they prefer adjusting to his primal unconstitutional instincts than, you know, the Constitution itself.
Yet show them a person who dares to kneel during the national anthem, or show them someone disrespecting the American flag, and the patriotic fire comes out. This is because the symbols and emblems have been transformed into the thing itself. Love of country has been flattened to mean something as banal as the respecting of a symbol.
Shouldn’t it instead mean the valuing of the profound principles and ideals voiced at the founding, yet realized only partially and incrementally throughout the past two centuries? Because if this instead is patriotism—if patriotism is the relentless quest to fully realize the promise of “all men are created equal”—then the moral longing captured in many political protests is one hundred thousand times more patriotic than dumping the First Amendment at the president’s urging.
It’s unfortunate that many have come to idolize the symbols and iconography of American identification, while completely dismissing the very things that the symbolism is supposed to represent. In doing this, they’ve reduced patriotism to empty slogans, vacuous imagery, and wholesale idolatry. They’ve produced a shadow of patriotism, which is no more than the fetishization of banners, reminiscent of fascistic nations, where people have been duped into rallying behind figureheads and signs in place of institutional norms and unwavering values.
As Marybeth Glenn put it in a piece for Arc:
Many have a hard time acknowledging our past atrocities while embracing a dedication to country, and I believe that’s because we’ve distorted what patriotism really means. They’ve been convinced that good ol’ American pride can’t coexist with sordid history, so they develop a selective memory, which leads to a patriotism rooted in fantasy. As a result, people across our nation speak of patriotism like it’s currency, cheapening it to a collection of empty platitudes. You receive more patriot points if you have a kneeling soldier silhouette on your profile picture, or if you drape the colors of the flag across your chest, or if you claim to “stand for the flag and kneel for the cross.”
We need to reclaim patriotism. A sober version of what it means to love your country depends on it. We cannot cede this concept any longer.
Political rallies for equality, regardless of one’s sex, gender identity, race, religion, or country of origin, should be awash with stars and stripes, making it clear to all onlookers and participants that the flag is not a Republican prop to feign patriotism, but an enduring sign that America is a place where diversity is held up as a bedrock of our very being. These displays ought to be present and unmissable at every march, at every event—the only reason they aren’t is because Trump supporters have co-opted them into proxy symbols for Republican fealty. But, again, why cede them?
There is an additional reason to care about this. The sooner patriotism is de-coupled from showy displays of Trumpian allegiance, the sooner American identity can be cleansed from too close of an association with a particular personality. It’s impossible, given the way they’re currently used, for our signs and symbols and emblems and icons to stand for principles; they are currently wedded to the main occupant of the White House. But a more genuinely American conception of patriotism would see fit to dissolve this association at once. We often style ourselves as country ruled by laws rather than men—a shot at the places where the whims of a dictator or preoccupations of a strongman set the agenda in far-reaching ways. We cannot credibly claim this image all the while seeing patriotism as just doing whatever the chief executive wants.
No longer can we allow the worst among us to define us, to define our country, and to define the symbols that relay to everyone who sees them what kind of people we are and what kind of values we care deeply about.
