Posted on 09/29/2017 9:32:47 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The American flag, drenched in the blood of American Indians and enslaved Africans, has been romanticized as a symbol of guardianship for all citizens of this nation. One of the main centerpieces of patriotism encapsulated in the flag’s meaning is military service.
Be it the Revolutionary or Civil War, World War I or II, or any other battle in which America has fought, the argument is that the men and women who fought for this country took on a sacred sacrifice to protect American liberty and freedom from foreign enemies that would dare to endanger it. That the American flag can flap freely around the nation is an indication that its people, too, are free.
Though, as Colin Kaepernick first explained to us by kneeling during the national anthem last year, and what other NFL athletes are revealing by following suit this season, as black people, we are not free. And we never really have been.
America’s inception was never designed to accommodate the liberty and freedoms of its nonwhite people. When soldiers fought against Britain during the Revolutionary War, it was a victory for white people. The American flag was raised in victory in 1783 as its black citizens, who were still not legally full human beings at the time, continued to suffer in slavery some 80 years after the fact.
We can look at the failure of Reconstruction after the Civil War and realize that black people’s liberty evoked white people’s violence. As the flag was flown proudly during Jim Crow, white politicians worked tirelessly to suppress our votes and sanctioned our murders if we dared to cast a ballot.
In 2017, as white people stand for the national anthem, most of them sit in careless silence as police kill black and brown people and hide behind the baseless excuse of “I feared for my life.”
The problem with narratives of American patriotism is that they ignore the fact that America was and is a colonial state. Colonial powers are violent and racist by their very nature. America’s military is not a protector of peace. It is an enforcer of colonialism. Indeed, black Americans have died in America’s wars but do not fully experience the freedom that comes with that sacrifice as white people do.
Patriotism has never been a racially equitable experience because it was never designed to be.
This weekend, people voiced what they envision in the American flag. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr asked rhetorically, “You know what else is offensive to our flag? Racism.” I applaud the spirit of his wording, but it is not historically accurate. America is racist. Its history, its culture and, if this recent election is any indicator, many of its citizens are tied to racism and the benefits it provides them.
President Donald Trump is a white supremacist and is keenly aware of the symbolism the flag represents. That is why he tweeted this morning to #StandForOurAnthem. Both the anthem and the flag are symbols of white hegemony. Freedom? Sure. For white people.
There has never been a point in U.S. history when nonwhite bodies were not under the threat of state violence. That is why black people are kneeling before the flag. It was never intended to reflect the protection of our humanity. If it were, police officers would not get away with shooting and killing black people with reckless abandon, all while wearing an American-flag patch on their uniforms.
Trump would not have won the White House if millions of patriots were not emotionally attuned to his rhetoric of “Make America great again,” which is nothing more than a death cry for people who feel their whiteness is being devalued as the country becomes more diverse.
We are seeing patriotism in action, folks. Trump is in office banning as many Muslims from entering the nation as possible, conservative state lawmakers are creating voter-suppression laws designed to keep black and Latino people from voting, and law enforcement is as murderous against nonwhite people as ever. Black blood is being spilled across the country, and white people are more than happy to support the cops doing the killing.
This is American patriotism in 2017. There is no redemption in any of it. We have to start anew. But white people are unwilling to unpack patriotism’s racist past and present because that requires them to drop their privilege and unpack themselves, and they simply choose not to do so. That is the power of white supremacy: to be able to ignore the suffering of others and not face any of the consequences.
Nothing exemplifies this better than when a white woman by the name of Sharon called C-SPAN recently to say that she can no longer watch NFL football because the players’ kneeling is “too painful” for her.
“It’s just shameful and it hurts me to see people taking a knee when we are supposed to be joyful about living in this country,” she said. “After I saw what happened [with players kneeling during the anthem], I tried to watch it and I just couldn’t because I just kept crying.”
Sharon, who said that she is a veteran, is clearly living in her own white world. But her words precisely articulate the mourning many white people are experiencing over black resistance. She didn’t address any of the issues the players are highlighting (police brutality, Trump’s racism, etc). In her own world, they are supposed to be “joyful.” Her patriotism exists in a vacuum that centers her whiteness at the expense of ignoring the violence it inflicts against our black and brown bodies. Black people and Sharon do have something in common, however: We’re all in pain right now.
The difference is that black people are suffering as we resist the flag-waving, national-anthem-singing patriotism that has always protected anti-black violence, while Sharon is crying because we can’t shut up and stand for a flag and an anthem that protect her in ways that will never protect us. Sharon will continue to cry for her patriotism. Black people will cry in mourning over the violence that her patriotism protects.
Would like to beat some sense into the “author”. Hope he and those like him decide to move someplace they can feel patriotic towards - would clean a lot of the trash from the Nation I love....
“If I had a son, he’d look like Terrell”
Thanks Obama for all the 2017 black racism and division in America!
The 1968 Summer Olympics saw the black power salute and other demonstrations by other black athletes. Foreman, in contrast, was criticized by some activists for carrying an American flag into the ring of his 1968 Olympic Heavyweight bout. When he was later asked if he had any regrets, he said "I wish I'd carried two." He was also asked if he had been pressured at the time to join in the protests, and he said "yes, they tried to push me. But I was the heavyweight boxer -- I could take care of myself."
Not surprisingly, that kind, patriotic, ambitious American who happens to be black has had a wildly successful, happy life in this country. And we shouldn't lose sight of other patriotic black Americans -- they all don't share the views of the piece of garbage who wrote that article.
Another crazed negro liberal. Nothing to (new) see here, move along you privileged white male.
The fact that the Russian fake black lives matter account had more followers than the actual black lives matter account should tell you all you need to know about how much of a fraud all of this crap is. Black Americans are as American as anyone, and those of us with more than two brain cells are proud of it!
This is one black man responding to what I just read.
My opinion is the writer is full of bullshit, and looks to rationalize failed, self defeating world views.
Patriotism is for all Americans, regardless of color.
100 per cent garbage. Hate and ignorance go hand in hand.
George Foreman truly is “The Greatest.”
when black people get angry, cities burn...
when white people get angry, continents burn....
Very true, Brandon Tatum had one of the best responses to the loser spoiled NFL players and has gone viral:
This guy is free to be an idiot.
You should send him a link to this. His reaction might be interesting.
Was his therapist white?
I wonder if all those Star Spangled Banner kneelers realize that there is more than to our national anthem than the first verse. The fifth verse, in particular, was written not by Francis Scott Key but by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in 1861, to support the Union cause during the Civl War.
Perhaps celebrity vocalists at NFL football and NBA basketball games should be encouraged to sing this fifth verse, instead. Then, just maybe, the kneelers could make a statement by rising up off the artificial turf, and/or the hardwood, as one and stand at attention with their hands over their hearts, where they belong.
I suggest it’s worth a try.
When our land is illumined with liberty’s smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.
This is about destroying America so the globalist can enslave us. It is called treason.
The author does not say how this country fought a war, largely over slavery, and ultimately freed the slaves. H e does not say how well African-Americans are doing in this country, be it in politics, law, business, communications, military, etc. Fact is Americans of African decent are much better off than other Africans the world over. We even had an anti American African American president.
Alternatively, here’s a National Anthem that might get the kneelers’ attention.
The SOB Anthem
(With apologies to Francis Scott Key)
Oh, say can you see
Me, asserting my rights,
As so proudly I kneel
And dis’ this whole flag thing.
Those broad stripes and bright stars
They Just piss my ass off
Like the whiteys who boo,
to the exits they’re streaming.
So why should I care
If the ratings aren’t there?
They can turn out the lights
But I’ll still get my share.
I don’t give a damn, let your
“Blood-Soaked” flag wilt.
Playing ball’s about me
Cashin’ in on white guilt.
The problem is people who go around saying “White people” and “Black people.” Anybody who reduces a complex human being to a SINGLE word descriptor doesn’t deserve to live on this planet and can go somewhere else. Sorry, bud. This is your country too. The moment when you stop blaming all your self-inflicted failures on “White people” you will begin to be happy.
A simple question for these racialist whiners — In what nation on earth is the aggregate standard of living and quality of life better for melanin enhanced humans than the USA?
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