This was an American kind of weekend. Saturday was the 4th of July. That meant for 24 hours the FB posts that flooded my feed were a unified voice of the wonders of America. Everything from the origins of the nation to contemporary memes lauding how great we are replaced the numerous ignorant and often hateful posts targeting various groups, politicians, and/or policies currently at the forefront of American media. Then Sunday everyone watched as the US Women's Soccer Team gave us another reason to proudly proclaim our love for the red, white, and blue.
Of course, the 4th of July is only one day and once the euphoria of Women's Soccer abides I have a feeling I'll have to go back to scrolling through numerous posts that claim what America is or should be. That usually (and rather unfortunately) means the exclusion of a group of people or ideas that actually contribute to what makes America great.
This got me to thinkin' about my own views of patriotism and being American. I often keep my mouth shut when it comes to the whole "what it means to be American" thing because I fear the contempt and derision of others who won't even bother hearing me out before judging me. Well, Kid President says, "It is okay to disagree. It is NOT okay to be mean." So I hope those who read this keep that in mind:).
To me there isn't only one way to be American. We don't have a national religion or language. It is true we have a
predominant religion and language, but to ignore the numerous cultures and beliefs that built our nation and continue to shape it is just silly. I mean it. Unless one's heritage includes that of the Native Americans, everyone's family came from somewhere else. Some of those places spoke various dialects and languages. Some of those places were polytheistic or atheistic. Some of those places produced lovely shades of people.
The thing is: people came to America because it was so different! You want an opportunity to be successful even though you were born in a lower class? Come to America. You want an opportunity to be educated? Come to America. You want a feeling of safety and security? Come to America. You simply want these things for your children? Then come to America. Sure there was a lot more to it in many cases, but these reasons are what convinced so many people to leave everything they knew and start over. I feel like a majority of Americans have forgotten that. Maybe that is why it is so easy to spew hatred? Some of us have been here for enough generations to feel superior to those just arriving who are different? What is that going to accomplish other than making Americans look like a bunch of jerks? A favorite essay of mine is "
On National Prejudice" by Oliver Goldsmith. The gist: why does being patriotic mean I have to hate everyone from everywhere else? Simple answer: I don't. I can be a proud American and still value another's religious belief or skin color or language or whatever.
It is also important to support the ideas upon which this nation was built. So, yeah, I'm a pretty big fan of
The Constitution of the United States of America. What I am not a fan of is how people are abusing the poor thing to elevate outdated or incorrect ideals.
The Founding Fathers knew times would change and left room for us to make necessary adjustments. If this was not the case, things would look a lot different around here. So why do we throw a fit about changing
The Constitution? I'm not advocating a complete overhaul that would place a monarch back in charge; however, I'm incredibly grateful that slavery is illegal and women can vote. This is, after all, America in the 21st Century not in the 18th Century when
The Constitution was born.
The last time I checked, no one walked into my church and stated that the President was now in charge and we all had to worship his way or die. Neither has my church marched into the White House declaring a theocratic form of government. (As a matter of fact, there are some serious problems right now in countries who have done these things.) So I'm going to need everyone to relax on this whole freedom of religion/separation of church and state thing. We are not being threatened by the British. Soldiers are not banging on our doors demanding accommodation. So I'm going to need everyone to calm it down just a bit about bearing those arms.
We seem so ready to bite someone's head off for infringing on our "Constitutional Rights!" First, why don't we all review them (or maybe read them for the first time) to make sure we know exactly what is being infringed upon. Then we need to make sure our torching and pitchforking isn't actually infringing on someone else's Constitutional Rights.
If anyone is thinking, "Yeah, well, it's only a matter of time before all these terrible things happen! America is falling apart!," please find a more productive way of helping your nation than by being ugly with words and actions. Apparently, our country lets us have a say in the government (no really-see that "read
The Constitution" suggestion I made earlier). If one is tired of how things are going-THEN STOP VOTING FOR/SUPPORTING THE SAME PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING THE SAME POOR DECISIONS.
I know, I know-the problem is we don't all agree on what constitutes a "poor decision." Part of being American is at least educating oneself enough to make the most informed and best decision for the
nation as a whole. Sorry but declaring everyone be or live one way according to one person's standards is not best for the nation as a whole and can lead to a very bad place (see: fascism).
Finally, the piece
"Why Do We Inject Patriot Acts Into Sports?" by Ralph Strangis is an offshoot of what I am saying here. It is well done and brings a lot of things into question regarding how we honor our soldiers and veterans. And while it probably deserves its own post, I hope it at least makes people sit back and think about sincere vs. peer-pressured patriotism.
Okay, to recap my rambling:
Being American is about taking pride in a nation that welcomes everyone. Being American is about respecting and learning from, even if disagreeing with, a multitude of cultures and ideas. Being American is knowing her history and the documents that established her as a country. Being American is about understanding that this is 2015 and not 1776-patriotism might look a little different and that is okay. Being American is about continuously building the nation up not tearing it down. Being American is about learning from the good, bad, and ugly things and then finding a way to make them better. Being American is about being grateful one lives in a place where all of this can happen.
