Patriotism: Is It Really What We Think It Is?

I always used to think that showing patriotism for your country was always a positive and a peaceful thing to do. More specifically, I thought that simple acts of raising up the American flag and standing up when the national anthem was being sung were common acts of mandatory patriotism. Now I say "mandatory" because it is ingrained in our heads by society that the aforementioned acts of "patriotism" were compulsory in order to show respect for one's country. In my eyes, the act of displaying patriotism was a mandatory good: displaying patriotism for your country would positive for the morale of the country and others would respect you for it, but if you don't you would be shunned and looked down upon by the rest of society.

Well, those views of mine were from a long time ago. It is now September 2016 at the time of writing this and things have definitely changed. Nowadays, subjects like discrimination, racism, and feminism dominate the stage. However, I never expected the notion of patriotism to form into such complex and heated controversial topic. I wondered how a solidified notion of patriotism could turn into one of the most controversial topics that plague America today. Then I turned to the dictionary in hopes of finding an answer to my question. When I looked “patriotism” up in the dictionary, it just defines it as “devoted love, support, and defense of one's country” and so I just thought of patriotism the same way as I did before thinking that the definition is the same as the past notions of patriotism. But then, I stumbled on something big: A nationally known San Francisco 49ers football quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. He was the first person who I have seen that has refused to stand up as the national anthem was sung. He argued, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." Upon deeper investigation of his claims, I found that what he said was true and even found a court case where a white police officer killed a black man with his hands up. Even though Kaepernick provided justification of his actions, he still received overwhelming criticism for not supporting and being patriotic towards his country. Upon reading this denunciation, I wondered: were Colin Kaepernick’s actions really unpatriotic? After reading The Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell, I noticed that she mentions, “The true American Patriot is by definition skeptical of the government” (Vowell 7.11). Then it all made sense.

The definition of “devoted love, support, and defense of one's country” does not necessarily mean that patriotism can only be represented through strictly positive means. “Love” can also refer to “tough love” that is sometimes shown by parents as lovingly scolding to their children in hopes of making them good people. “Support” can come in many ways including constructive criticism. Now when these alternate meanings of love and support and put together, it becomes clear why Kaepernick did what he did and how it was also an act of patriotism. Kaepernick didn’t stand during the national anthem to show his protest on the American government that blacks are not getting equal treatment. This action is justifiable and actually an admirable act of patriotism since he is showing his skepticism towards the American government, therefore making him a “true American patriot.” 

The Declaration of Sentiments: Can One Word Really Mean So Much?

My father always used to say, "Choose your words wisely." I never really knew what that meant back then so I would get let it go in one ear and out the other. I didn't get the difference between saying "hi" or "hello" or between writing the word "all" instead of "most." I just didn't get how a single word could change the point I was talking or writing about. All of this changed when I read the Declaration of Independence and The Declaration of Sentiments.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal , that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the  pursuit of Happiness" (The Declaration of Independence).

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" (The Declaration of Sentiments).



The former of the two quotes above is undoubtedly one of the most famous quotes from the Declaration of Independence. Even if it may be confusing for some to understand, it basically just summarizes the entire document saying that we are given three God-given rights: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The latter of the two quotes is from the Declaration of Sentiments but is extremely similar to the one in the Declaration of Independence except for one phrase: "men AND women." The lack of the word "women" in the Declaration of Independence is what distinguishes these two monumental documents from each other. It is that one word that changes the fundamental purpose from explaining how the lack of the "unalienable Rights" led the colonies to declare independence to the purpose of demanding equal rights for women. It is the omission of this one word in the Declaration of Independence that brought a decisive national dispute upon the country. And it is this word that will continue to fuel the arguments between the genders until a solution is finally reached.

To sum up everything I have said, the meaning of a work of literature is like taking the integral of it: it is the sum of all the words and meanings of those words under a given work.