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| Frederick Douglass |
I’ve always had a problem with nationalism. From my childhood to the present day, pledges of allegiance, corny anthems & an implied notion that one’s nation is singled out for the blessings of God, seem(s/ed) a little foolish. As a child, I often defied the norm of putting my hand to my chest to face the flag in a display of devotion. I did not understand the reason for it, especially when I saw first-hand the poverty and squalor of communities not too far from where I grew up. As an adult, this same defiance still blazes within; only now it is more informed.
Granted, many hearts are filled with the contradictions of nationalism even while openly displaying a devotion to a flag or singing a goofy anthem. If one were to take the time to face these contradictions & seriously consider the socially-conditioned posturings, one will realize the chilling darkness - mass murder along with racism & religious intolerance – that has always undergirded nationalistic pride in powerful countries. These socially and politically-crafted ways of thinking - quite simply an indoctrination from childhood to adulthood- has always been a useful device for the powerful.
I’ve always maintained that human beings do not handle power nobly. We tend to cave into our shadow that sways us to & fro (there are exceptions, of course). This is especially the case for inhabitants in powerful nations like the United States. National pride has become national arrogance that has already steam-rolled countless not only domestically, but internationally as well. As Chris Matthews stated in an editorial segment on his show the other night, American exceptionalism is real & should be respected. This exception in the world - uniquely moral and steam-rolling on other nations in the name of humanitarianism, liberty, democracy…and…EGAD!...civilization, is swallowed whole by a huge segment of the population. It was/is always supposedly for benign purposes that we invade other lands (boldly stating that it’s other peoples resources which we desire is a PR no-no) .
Deception and self-deception start early. Our deep-seated myths about ourselves & our world deserve more scrutiny. Here are a few historical mythologies that are part of the American experience:
- When the first English settlers moved into Native American land in Massachusetts Bay and were resisted, the violence escalated into war with the Pequot Indians. The killing of Indians was seen as approved by God, the taking of land as commanded by the Bible. The Puritans cited one of the Psalms, which says: "Ask of me, and I shall give thee, the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession."
- On the eve of the Mexican War, an American journalist declared it our "Manifest Destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence." After the invasion of Mexico began, The New York Herald announced: "We believe it is a part of our destiny to civilize that beautiful country."
- The US invaded Cuba in 1898 to liberate the Cubans, and went to war in the Philippines shortly after, as President McKinley put it, "to civilize and Christianize" the Filipino people.
- As US forces were committing massacres in the Philippines (at least 600,000 Filipinos died in a few years of conflict), Elihu Root, our Secretary of War, stated: "The American soldier is different from all other soldiers of all other countries since the war began. He is the advance guard of liberty and justice, of law and order, and of peace and happiness."
I can go on and on, but you get the point. One of the saddest effects of nationalist thinking is a loss of a sense of reality & proportion. The killing of 2,300 people at Pearl Harbor becomes the justification for killing 240,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The killing of 3,000 people on Sept. 11 becomes the justification for killing tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq. One report has the estimate at 132,000 deaths.
The United States is a beautiful nation without a doubt, and there are excellent, momentous chapters in her history (Declaration of Independence from the savagery of British rule, the Civil Rights struggles, the fight for trade unionism and recently the fight of Wisconsin workers), however, we need to abandon the notion that it is uniquely blessed by God and therefore superior to other countries. The Romans & British thought that way and now they’re in the dustbins of history.
On this 4th of July, we need to assert our allegiance to the human family and to our dying planet, and not to any one nation. To do otherwise is hazardous, and if you look around, we’re already suffering from the high cost of our foolishness.
OneLove
:::MME:::
