Patriotism and other things

By Hank Silverberg

Have you ever had your patriotism questioned?  It seems that is happening all over these days, and it is getting ridiculous.This meme has shown up on my Facebook news feed several times already and it makes me angry:

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“I’m proud to be an American” I bet no one passes this on because they are scared to be called a racist.

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Here is an extensive answer to that post above, which I labeled "B-S." 

I am proud to be an American and live in a country where racial and ethnic diversity is a cornerstone of our strength. It’s a country where we can learn from each other, worship as we please, and speak our minds when we want to.

I am proud to be an American when racism is un-American. There is no connection between love of country and hate of other countryman or immigrants.  A proud American rejects that notion. Patriotism is not about waving the flag, saying the pledge or wearing a uniform. Patriotism is about upholding the values of the Constitution daily and striving to reach its ideals.      

Patriotism is NOT owned by conservatives or liberals. They both can have it. It can be expressed in many ways. Certainly, serving in the military is patriotic. So is serving in the Peace Corps or at the State Department. 

Certainly, serving as an EMT, police officer or firefighter is patriotic. So is working at a homeless shelter or a food kitchen, or running the local PTA.

Starting a small business and hiring those who live in the same neighborhood is patriotic. So is teaching, passing on your knowledge to others, at any level.  

A single parent, child in tow, who stops on the way home from work to vote for school board, city council, or President is also patriotic. A social worker who toils in poor neighborhoods trying to help people lift themselves out of poverty is patriotic. 

Serving in an elected or appointed office is patriotic. So is being a journalist and practicing the First Amendment every day, acting as a watchdog against corporate exploitation, political corruption or abuse of power. These are all things that make America work

Those who question someone’s patriotism because they don’t fly a flag are missing the point. Football players who kneel during the national anthem are petitioning their government to redress their grievances in protest of excessive use of force by law enforcement. They too are practicing a right guaranteed in the Constitution. It is a patriotic act.

Patriotism is love of country. To question someone’s patriotism simply because they don’t express it the same way you do or because they don’t express it at all, is frankly un-American. Loving your country does not mean you ignore its flaws. Striving to fix the flaws is patriotic. Our flag symbolizes it all, the ideals and the flaws, but you don’t have to wave it to believe in the meaning. 

Nationalism is NOT patriotism. Nationalism is thinking your country is better than all the others and needs to be separated from the rest of the world by fences and oceans, because you don’t want "inferior" people to come in. Nationalism is territorial and isolationist and really can’t function in today’s  global society without long term damage to our country’s role as a world leader. 

Nationalism causes wars in which patriots end up dying.

Waving a Confederate or Nazi flag, though a legal form of protest, is not patriotic. Both are symbols of past efforts to destroy the United States of America from the inside or the outside using hate, intimidation, war and mass murder.  

So, the next time someone questions your patriotism simply because you don’t agree, challenge them. Ask them to explain why expressing an opposing view is unpatriotic. They probably can’t do it. Most will run away from the challenge, but maybe you can convince one or two that there are many ways to be a patriot. 

The next time someone talks about Nationalism, tell them that it is not the same as Patriotism, and remind them of the damage it has done to our nation in the past.

News Notes:

Also of note this week is a recent CNN poll which showed widespread anti-Semitism returning to Europe.  About one in 20 Europeans has never heard of the Holocaust, even though it was less than 75 years ago, and many Holocaust survivors are still alive.

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2018/11/europe/antisemitism-poll-2018-intl/

Roughly 20 percent of those surveyed in Europe, where 11 million people were murdered during the Holocaust, said Jews have too much influence in the media, politics and finance. In Austria where Adolph Hitler was born, 12 percent of those between 18 and 34 have never heard of the Holocaust.  That same ignorance of the Holocaust occurred in 10 percent of American adults. You can learn more about the Holocaust here: https://www.ushmm.org/  Ironically, the report comes out as The Jewish celebration of Chanukah begins. The eight-day holiday commemorates one of the earliest victories in the fight for religious freedom more than 21 hundred years ago.

Earlier this year, a survey by the Anti-Defamation league of B’Nai Brith found a 37 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in 2017.

(A Concentration camp tattoo burned into the arm,
 courtesy of chabad.org ) 

Also, this week-- this disgusting note from the U-S /Mexican border which should leave you outraged. Small groups of migrants who have formally applied for asylum on the Mexican side and are waiting on a list for a hearing to enter the United States are taken to special waiting areas by Mexican immigration officials. There they answer a few questions, are sometimes forced to pay bribes, and their registration number is drawn on their arm in indelible black ink. They were drawn on, and not burned on, but the numbers have the look and feel of the concentration camp tattoos. The Mexicans may think it’s a simple way of keeping track of those migrants. But for many Jews it sends a shiver up our spines, especially in correlation with the survey statistics cited above.

  

   Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it –--Philosopher George Santayana

For those of you who celebrate, Happy Chanukah! 

(Your comments and suggestions are welcome in the section below)

(My book can be purchased at Amazon.com , BN.com and would make a great holiday gift. To find out how to get a signed copy email me at hanksilverberg@gmail.com )