What to this brown-ish man is patriotism?

San Francisco, CA — July 12, 2020

As a Canadian citizen living in the United States, the first week of July is an annual exercise in witnessing a maelstrom of patriotic exuberance. Canada Day (July 1) marks the anniversary of my home country’s birth, and is closely followed by Independence Day south of the border (July 4).

In most non-COVID years, there’s many an interesting sight to see on these days — imaginative outfits made entirely of flag-print, parades, and eye-popping fireworks. Wholesome, family-friendly patriotism at its finest.

But it’s important to recognize that the 4th of July has never meant the same things to all people equally. I recently for the first time read Frederick Douglass’ famous speech “What to a slave is the fourth of July”, in which he called out the dissonance between the articulated values of America and the lived reality of racialized people in this country. (It is tragic how 168 years later, in light of this summer’s BLM protests, his message still resonates.)

Reading this around the Canada Day / Independence Day holidays evoked a question that I’ve struggled with for years. In 2020, what, to me, a Brown-ish man living in this White-normative society, is the meaning of patriotism?

There are three somewhat conflicting perspectives I think about right away:

• Irrespective of race and cultural background, I am lucky to have lived in the Canada and the US. The personal liberties and opportunities available to me here are denied to many around the world. I am grateful, for instance, to live (relatively) free from fear of ‘disappearance’ for voicing opposition to those in power. That is not to be taken for granted.
• Nevertheless, I am painfully aware of the harsh reality that neither country has delivered its proclaimed vision of freedom and prosperity to wide swaths of their populations. Canada has been complicit in the ‘genocide’ of its indigenous peoples, as documented in the ‘Reclaiming Power & Place’ final report of the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women’s commission. Meanwhile, the US continues to struggle with healing the wounds of its founding racial sins — evident in arenas as far-ranging from police violence, wealth inequality, and COVID-19 hospitalizations . Moreover, both countries have a problematic history of criminalizing poverty (references, here, and here), thereby perpetuating its vicious cycle. There can be no full celebration until we right these wrongs.
• Finally, at the sound of the word ‘PATRIOTISM’ , my mind always conjures certain thoughts. If you’re like me, chances are that along with waving flags, you think of images associated with the military — the sacrifice of soldiers “fighting for our freedom”, fly-bys from fighter jets, Army veterans at football games. Speaking of football games — some of you may have also remembered the Colin Kaepernick national anthem controversy, and the vitriolic response from countless fans, suggesting that his silent protest was tantamount to ‘hating America’, or spitting on the graves of the fallen soldiers of the US military. That in turn may prompt you to reflect on every right-wing, chest-thumping, ‘America can do no wrong’ blowhard that routinely defends themselves from criticism by accusing their critics of “not loving America” enough — a form of ad hominem fallacy that Alex Nowrasteh of the Post cleverly calls ‘patriotic correctness’.

This last point is important. The national conversation on patriotism has connected this exact uncomfortable chain of ideas in my head. These associations are what makes me at times deeply uncomfortable with the term, to the point that I feel awkward even considering labeling myself ‘patriotic’. The word feels weaponized and toxified to the point of inaccessibility for me, both for its explicit white supremacist tropes, and extreme fragility in psyche.

To provide further examples of this phenomenon:

• Four BIPOC women in Congress exercising their First Amendment right to dissent results in them being told: “If you’re not happy in the U.S., if you’re complaining all the time, very simply, you can leave. You can leave right now.” Meanwhile, the same thin-skinned White man who uttered these words wrote an entire book called ‘Crippled America’ in 2015, in which he speaks extensively about, ironically, how unhappy he was with the state of America. (Perhaps he could have also considered leaving?)
• Tucker Carlson, over-boiled lump extraordinaire, recently said that people like Senator Tammy Duckworth ‘actually hate America’ for saying that she would be open to having a conversation about George Washington’s legacy, given that he was a slave-holder. Now, I know that Carlson has his part to play as part of the boot-licking propaganda machine that is Fox News, so who knows if he believes a word he says. But that he could so easily use patriotism as a guise for his irresponsible speech is telling.

In short, patriotism feels perverted. A word that should evoke feelings of warmth too often feels subverted by something malicious — akin to the stomach-churning cocktail of nostalgia and revulsion at seeing a photo of 90s Bill Cosby in one of his iconic sweaters.

This cannot be the best that we can do. There must be a better expression of patriotism that doesn’t thrive off a mixture of hatred, arrogance and hypocrisy.

While changing a national conversation on something as politically charged as society’s definition of patriotism is hardly a battle I can fight alone, what I plan on doing is redefining patriotism for myself, and proudly living by that definition.

Redefining Patriotism

I’ve decided to take a bottoms-up approach here, by outlining the underlying actions and traits that I believe are essential. Here’s the core list:

Paying Taxes— Ronald Reagan once sardonically quipped that “to Republicans, every day is the 4th of July, while to Democrats, every day is April 15th” (i.e. tax day). To which I would say…hell yes, patriots, it’s April 15th (April 30 in Canada)! Let’s pay our collective bills! Taxes are what make societies function — from the local level, paying for roads, firefighters, and schools, to the federal level, in the form of Social Security and Medicare.

Civic Engagement — This comes in many forms. For one, even as a tax-paying enthusiast, I will be the first to say that the taxation power of government demands a high degree of accountability, to ensure that our limited resources are being used effectively. In this arena, voting is a bare minimum. Participation in community forums and advocacy are also essential. At the same time, engagement doesn’t necessarily have to be directly with the government. Volunteering with a local organization for a just cause is also incredibly patriotic.

Loyalty to Principles**, not Institutions — In keeping with the theme of engagement and accountability, it should be noted that institutions, as small as the flag of our country, or as grand as the entire military, do not deserve a patriot’s blind loyalty — that is a resource parted with thoughtfully. Instead, it is in our collective principles that patriots should place their trust. If an institution acts counter to those principles, we have the responsibility to speak up about it, and to respect the right of others to do the same (even if we may not agree ourselves). For instance, if I believe in the principle of equal treatment under the law, I have an obligation to speak out about the commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence. Now, obviously, not all principles are created equal (looking at you, broken-windows policing). The flip side of the equation is also working to ensure that the right principles for our society gain traction, and that problematic ones are eradicated over time.

** I intentionally didn’t use the word ‘rights’ here. Rights are simply principles that are codified in law. But the law is ever-evolving, and never 100% just. For instance, a few short years ago, marriage equality for the LGBTQ+ community was merely a principle that was not defended in any legal right.

Compassion — Jeff Weiner, former CEO of LinkedIn, succinctly summarizes compassion as empathy + action. Patriotism requires the ability to recognize that not everyone’s lived experiences are identical, and to account for this when acting on our principles. For instance, whatever your thoughts on the merits of the Green New Deal, one cannot fault it for not at least showing compassion to the needs of Appalachian coal workers. It understands that they would face disproportionate economic disruption by a transition to clean energy, and provides support through that transition.

Humility — Patriots stay grounded. They know that even the greatest societies can screw up colossally, and that while accepting a mistake can be tough, it’s always, always a better option than denying it. They do not confuse love of country for egotistical pride, the way that certain parents cannot bring themselves to see any fault in their children, for fear of damaging their own self-perception as caregivers. They seek out knowledge, and are open to having their views challenged by new information. They recognize that there are rarely simple answers to complex problems, are unafraid of nuance, and trust expertise and distrust braggadociousness.

In coming up with this list, I intentionally didn’t include anything on this list (with the possible exception of paying taxes) that lended itself to supporting a particular policy / brand of politics. The purpose of redefining patriotism for me wasn’t to advocate that any one leaning is more deserving of the ‘patriot’ label. Instead, I wanted to build framework for how I would operate as a patriot.

As I close this post out, I’ll freely admit that trying to call myself a patriot right now still feels…weird — like a shirt that clashes horribly with my skin tone. But with enough practice, I hope to reclaim this word for myself. And maybe change how others see it too.

Till next time.