Confronting the un-American patriotism

Real patriots know that diversity is our power, not our problem.

Close your eyes.

Imagine a sea of "U.S.A." signs held high and proudly, nationalist chants in the air, stars and stripes in every direction, and talk of freedom and the pursuit of happiness.

Where are you?

A Democratic convention?

Yes. Liberal patriotism exists, and it always has existed. For years, Republicans felt like landlords of the concept, fooling themselves into believing that the problem with "the left" was an insufficient appreciation for the red, white, and blue.

Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who bravely spoke at the convention, said, "They love this country just as much as we do," as if it were a revelation.

“And they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been.”

He could have said that Democrats love their country so much that they've never had one of their party leaders encourage a blood-lusting mob to sack the nation's Capitol.

That's shade. But true.

Andy Smarick, a far more temperate and conservative man than I, has a thoughtful piece observing the abundant patriotism at the DNC. If I'm reading it right, he was happy, if not surprised, to see it.

"I must admit, it was an unexpected moment for me—members of America’s political left have historically been the ones to raise concerns about ostentatious displays of national pride: Too much gung-ho Americanism, it is said, can blind us to our past sins, stifle dissent, encourage our international bellicosity, and so on."

That's a good representation of what the right gets wrong about the left. The former sees patriotism in symbols: the flag, the national anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Walmart t-shirts that say, "I kneel for the cross and stand for the flag." The latter sees patriotism as a verb. Actively engaging in civics and struggles to make America's marketing match its reality is the highest form of patriotism.

Smarick believes the conservative version of patriotism holds America together and worries that we are fraying when we don't value shared symbols of our love for the country. For him, the right owns more of that spirit than the left.

But wasn't the DNC an excellent correction to his thought?

It was a convention of people who looked representative of America, standing together and united across many lines of difference. Wasn't it a great way to model how patriotism belongs to all of us?

Smarick sees the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance as essential performances of our fidelity. He implies that those who don’t do these things don’t love America as much. But patriotism is hollow if it exists only in symbolism. Faith without works is dead.

Actions should measure patriotism. I prefer the left's version because it recognizes those who show their love by fighting for justice, working to protect the environment, or standing up for the rights of others.

Smarick worries that America’s diversity might tear us apart. What is the glue that connects 300 million people with so many differences? Symbols and rituals, he says. But America has always been about diversity. Out of many, we are one. We do not all have to act the same way to prove it.

Smarick does not discuss the power of critique much as love. As James Baldwin said, “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

When we point out what is wrong and genuinely believe we can improve it, that's only because we think our country is a place where that is possible. We want the country to live up to its promise. That is patriotism.

I last talked to Smarick a long time ago. Perhaps I've been subject to the breaking apart that he fears. It may be a tad more than convenient for me to blame that on the monoracial, entirely sectarian, and grossly partisan Trump infection decimating all the grace and composure of his tribe. They have come to believe that only their vision of the U.S. is tolerable, which is a cognitive disability that couldn't be more un-American.

In the past, my ideological overlap with Smarick was around education. We both believe in creating more pathways to learning for children and families. Over time, our planes have landed at different airports.

His private school choice funds the atomization of Americans by sending them to ideological boutique schools where their pre-existing beliefs won't be disturbed by interactions with people unlike them.

Mine is about the power of common schools to do what they've always done: Americanize us into a national people.

Hopefully, we will all agree that honest patriotism is about perfecting the union, accepting criticism, and seeing strength in our diversity.