tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/patriotism-2169/articlesPatriotism – The Conversation2023-07-30T11:14:46Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2099842023-07-30T11:14:46Z2023-07-30T11:14:46ZZimbabwe’s ‘Patriotic Act’ erodes freedoms and may be a tool for repression<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539472/original/file-20230726-23-fk6s12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zimbabwe's repressive new law will further erode civilian rights.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jekesai Njikizana /AFP/ via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/local-news/article/200012321/parliament-passes-a-bill-that-seeks-to-punish-unpatriotic-citizens">introduction</a> of the controversial “Patriotic Act” in Zimbabwe will contribute to the erosion of political and civil liberties in a country that has been in the grip of one political party since independence in 1980.</p>
<p>President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the new act, officially called the <a href="https://www.law.co.zw/download/criminal-law-codification-and-reform-amendment-act-2023">Criminal Law Codification and Reform Amendment Act, 2023</a>, into law on 14 July. His government said the law was <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/as-patriotic-zimbabweans-celebrate-occasion/">indispensable</a> to holding accountable those who jeopardised national interests. It allows for monitoring and suppressing of political organisations and journalists who are critical of the government. </p>
<p>It carries harsh sentences, including death, for acts the government deems to be <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/07/zimbabwe-presidents-signing-of-patriotic-bill-a-brutal-assault-on-civic-space/">“unpatriotic”</a>. </p>
<p>Such a law, in a country with a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/election-violence-in-zimbabwe/FE079C46754D9F31DB5E3D5CE7AC4B38">history</a> of abuses of individual freedoms, will further undermine the right to freedom of expression enshrined in the <a href="https://www.veritaszim.net/sites/veritas_d/files/Constitution%20of%20Zimbabwe%20Amendment%20%28No.%2020%29.pdf">constitution</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ezekiel-guti-revered-zimbabwean-church-leader-who-preached-hard-work-and-morals-over-miracles-209556">Ezekiel Guti: revered Zimbabwean church leader who preached hard work and morals over miracles</a>
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<p>I have researched post-liberation Zimbabwe’s political economy and noted how the ruling Zanu-PF party has become <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/ejc-afrins-v49-n4-a10">conflated</a> with the state. The party-dominated legislature passes laws that erode political and civil liberties. The new act represents another move by the party to tighten its grip on power.</p>
<p>In my view, the act will enable the government to label legitimate criticism as <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/local-news/article/200012321/parliament-passes-a-bill-that-seeks-to-punish-unpatriotic-citizens%20%22%22">unpatriotic behaviour</a>. It will, for instance, <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/zimbabwe-passes-draconian-patriotic-bill-ahead-of-elections-20230601">penalise</a> individuals who hold meetings with foreign diplomats. </p>
<p>As the French philosopher <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=aabd337816cd732dcb43b782fc269daeca4ed67b">Montesquieu</a> stated in 1742, </p>
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<p>There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.</p>
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<h2>‘National interest’</h2>
<p>Opposition activists have <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/zimbabwe-rights-groups-opposition-furious-over-signed-patriotic-bill-/7184729.html">expressed concern</a> that the law is designed to punish citizens, civil society organisations and political adversaries of the ruling party. Zimbabwe is due to hold general elections <a href="https://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/4047/">on 23 August</a>. The government could launch a crackdown on dissent. </p>
<p>Some people see the act as a response to the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/107/plaws/publ99/PLAW-107publ99.pdf%22">sanctions</a> the United States imposed on the Zimbabwean government in 2001 for human rights abuses. The state-owned <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/the-patriotic-bill-a-necessity-for-vision-2030/">The Herald</a> newspaper said the law was a response to Zimbabweans who advocated for the enforcement of sanctions on Zimbabwe. </p>
<p>The government has exploited the sanctions as a <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-10-20-corruption-and-state-capture-not-sanctions-are-the-cause-of-zimbabwes-economic-meltdown/">pretext</a> to suppress dissent and shift the blame for the country’s problems.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/economic-reforms-wont-fix-zimbabwes-economy-ethical-leadership-is-also-needed-170569">Economic reforms won't fix Zimbabwe’s economy. Ethical leadership is also needed</a>
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<p>While the Patriotic Act <a href="https://www.veritaszim.net/node/6068">amends</a> the criminal law code to include mandatory minimum prison terms for rape sentences, it also criminalises acts it deems as</p>
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<p>wilfully injuring sovereignty and national interests of Zimbabwe. </p>
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<p>The problem lies in the broad definition of “national interests”. This can be manipulated to serve political agendas. It could be interpreted in a way that compromises individual freedoms and hinders government accountability. For instance, opposition activists have previously been <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/fadzai-mahere-and-ccc-trying-to-destroy-zimbabwe/">accused</a> of treason and unpatriotic behaviour for expressing concerns about human rights abuses in Zimbabwe at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Using this law, individuals who express concerns about human rights abuses and corruption could be targeted for unpatriotic behaviour.</p>
<p>For example, the TV news network Al Jazeera recently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evWEuVR1XIs">exposed</a> a case of gold smuggling corruption involving public officials in Zimbabwe. The revelations could potentially lead to the arrest of journalists behind the revelations. </p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>The Patriotic Act contravenes Zimbabwe’s <a href="https://www.veritaszim.net/sites/veritas_d/files/Constitution%20of%20Zimbabwe%20Amendment%20%28No.%2020%29.pdf">constitution</a>, which upholds the right to freedom of expression. This fundamental right is meant to foster an environment conducive to peaceful demonstrations and the presentation of petitions. </p>
<p>Zimbabwe is also bound by international and regional instruments that protect freedom of expression. They include the <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36390-treaty-0011_-_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf">African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights</a>. The Southern African Development Community <a href="https://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/compilation_democracy/sadcprinc.htm">principles and guidelines</a> governing democratic elections also emphasise the importance of freedom of expression. Zimbabwe is a member of the grouping.</p>
<p>Sadly, both the African Union and the Southern African Development Community have failed to prevail on Zanu-PF to uphold the human rights of Zimbabweans.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/animal-farm-has-been-translated-into-shona-why-a-group-of-zimbabwean-writers-undertook-the-task-206966">Animal Farm has been translated into Shona – why a group of Zimbabwean writers undertook the task</a>
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<p>Civil society organisations need to collaborate with media outlets to show the act’s potential impact on society. That way, the public will get a broader understanding of the act’s negative effects. That might spur Zimbabweans to challenge the oppressive act, and defend their individual and collective liberties.</p>
<p>Social media could be pivotal in mobilising resistance to the Patriotic Act. Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp have proven effective in disseminating information and rallying public opinion against oppression in Zimbabwe. There is also a need for active citizen participation to resist the Patriotic Act. The 2016 <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/12/10/569757806/fight-for-rights-will-continue-in-zimbabwe-thisflag-movement-pastor-vows">#ThisFlag</a> resistance movement is an example. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/analysis-across-africa-shows-how-social-media-is-changing-politics-121577">Analysis across Africa shows how social media is changing politics</a>
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<p>But, given the Zimbabwean government’s history of repression, a stronger solution would be for citizens to use their votes in the upcoming elections in August to choose a new government that would uphold their rights and human dignity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tinashe Sithole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Opposition activists have previously been accused of treason and unpatriotic behaviour for expressing concerns about human rights abuses.Tinashe Sithole, Post-doctoral research fellow at the SARChI Chair: African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2081702023-06-28T12:59:46Z2023-06-28T12:59:46ZWhat is the difference between nationalism and patriotism?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533816/original/file-20230623-4805-h1p42y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C6%2C4530%2C2755&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Donald Trump, left, and Harry Truman: Two former presidents who had different ideas about nationalism and patriotism.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donald_Trump_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg">The Conversation, with images from Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During his presidency, Donald Trump said, “We’re putting America first … we’re taking care of ourselves for a change,” and then declared, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lLQ8IEm8PE">I’m a nationalist</a>.” In another <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/25/trump-un-speech-2018-full-text-transcript-840043">speech</a>, he stated that under his watch, the U.S. had “<a href="https://youtu.be/KfVdIKaQzW8?t=1182">embrace[d] the doctrine of patriotism</a>.”</p>
<p>Trump is now running for president again. When he announced his candidacy, he <a href="https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/former-president-trump-announces-2024-presidential-bid-transcript">stated</a> that he “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hugb9fDXTd8">need[s] every patriot on board</a> because this is not just a campaign, this is a quest to save our country.” </p>
<p>One week later he dined in Mar-a-Lago with <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/25/trump-nick-fuentes-ye-kanye">Nick Fuentes</a>, a self-described <a href="https://www.tribstar.com/news/local_news/fuentes-i-am-an-american-nationalist/article_57dfaf0e-2751-5039-97e2-2ce832bbf870.html">nationalist</a> who’s been banned from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/nick-fuentes-live-streamer-white-nationalist-suspended-twitter-1608438">for using racist and antisemitic language</a>. </p>
<p>Afterward, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109405826070401204">confirmed that meeting</a> but did not denounce Fuentes, despite <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kejjJyABP0o">calls for him to do so</a>. </p>
<p>The words <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1193192673429131264">nationalism</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/1044633849572077568">patriotism</a> are sometimes used as synonyms, such as when Trump and his supporters describe his <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1347555316863553542">America First</a> agenda. But many <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/12461">political scientists</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vXXZBEkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">including me</a>, don’t typically see those two terms as equivalent – or even compatible. </p>
<p>There is a difference, and it’s important, not just to scholars but to regular citizens as well.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533517/original/file-20230622-23-ovgndv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A comic depicting Superman talking to people about treating others with respect and dignity." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533517/original/file-20230622-23-ovgndv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533517/original/file-20230622-23-ovgndv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533517/original/file-20230622-23-ovgndv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533517/original/file-20230622-23-ovgndv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533517/original/file-20230622-23-ovgndv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533517/original/file-20230622-23-ovgndv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533517/original/file-20230622-23-ovgndv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1041&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An image from 1950, colorized in 2017, shows Superman – a refugee from another planet and a character created by two Jewish immigrants to the U.S. – teaching that patriotism should drive out nationalism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dc.com/blog/2017/08/25/superman-a-classic-message-restored">DC Comics</a></span>
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<h2>Devotion to a people</h2>
<p>To understand what nationalism is, it’s useful to understand what a nation is – and isn’t. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199599868.001.0001/acref-9780199599868-e-1237">nation</a> is a group of people who share a history, culture, language, religion or some combination thereof.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/country">country</a>, which is sometimes called a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-sovereign-political-entity">state</a> in political science terminology, is an <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2010/04/08/in-quite-a-state">area</a> of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-many-states-and-provinces-are-in-the-world-157847">land</a> that has its own government. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/nation-state">nation-state is a homogeneous political entity</a> mostly comprising a single nation. Nation-states <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/theneweurope/wk18.htm">are rare</a>, because nearly every country is home to more than one national group. One example of a nation-state would be <a href="https://www.mhpbooks.com/books/the-cleanest-race/">North Korea</a>, where almost all residents are ethnic Koreans.</p>
<p>The United States is neither a nation nor a nation-state. Rather, it is a country of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/11/11/244527860/forget-the-50-states-u-s-is-really-11-nations-says-author">many different groups of people</a> who have a variety of shared histories, cultures, languages and religions.</p>
<p>Some of those groups are <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/01/28/2022-01789/indian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of">formally recognized</a> by the federal government, such as the <a href="https://www.navajo-nsn.gov">Navajo Nation</a> and the <a href="https://www.cherokee.org">Cherokee Nation</a>. Similarly, in Canada, the French-speaking <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Quebecois">Québécois</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/house-passes-motion-recognizing-quebecois-as-nation-1.574359">are recognized</a> as being a distinct “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGuLE7zmcqM">nation within a united Canada</a>.” </p>
<p>Nationalism is, per one dictionary definition, “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nationalism">loyalty and devotion to a nation</a>.” It is a person’s strong affinity for those who share the same history, culture, language or religion. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/527">Scholars</a> understand <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.1990.9968234">nationalism as exclusive</a>, boosting one identity group over – and at times in direct opposition to – others.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/oath-keepers-founder-sentenced-to-18-years-for-seditious-conspiracy-in-lead-up-to-jan-6-insurrection-4-essential-reads-206482">Oath Keepers</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/proud-boys-members-convicted-of-seditious-conspiracy-3-essential-reads-on-the-group-and-right-wing-extremist-white-nationalism-205094">Proud Boys</a> – <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/23/oath-keepers-guilty-seditious-conspiracy-jan-6-00079083">10 of whom</a> were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their role in <a href="https://theconversation.com/jan-6-committee-tackled-unprecedented-attack-with-time-tested-inquiry-195999">the Jan. 6 attack</a> on the U.S. Capitol – are both examples of <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-nationalism-is-a-political-ideology-that-mainstreams-racist-conspiracy-theories-184375">white nationalist</a> groups, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-nationalism-born-in-the-usa-is-now-a-global-terror-threat-113825">believe</a> that immigrants and people of color are a threat to their ideals of civilization. </p>
<p>Trump has described the events that took place on Jan. 6, 2021, as having occurred “<a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109401452224192463">Peacefully & Patrioticly</a>”. He has described those who have been imprisoned as “<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-praises-jan-6-rioters-great-patriots-1773808">great patriots</a>” and has said that he would <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-pardoning-extremists-undermines-the-rule-of-law-207272">pardon</a> “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/11/politics/transcript-cnn-town-hall-trump/index.html">a large portion of them</a>” if elected in 2024.</p>
<p>There are many other nationalisms beyond white nationalism. <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nation-of-islam-a-brief-history-198227">The Nation of Islam</a>, for instance, is an example of a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black%20nationalist">Black nationalist</a> group. The <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/profile/nation-islam">Anti-Defamation League</a> and the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam">Southern Poverty Law Center</a> have both characterized it as a Black supremacist hate group for its anti-white prejudices.</p>
<p>In addition to white and Black <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02589340500101741">racial nationalisms</a>, there are also <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20032578">ethnic</a> and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26222195">lingustic</a> nationalisms, which typically seek greater autonomy for – and the eventual independence of – certain national groups. Examples include the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/world/canada/Bloc-Quebecois-Nationalism.html">Bloc Québécois</a>, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/24/snp-leader-general-election-win-mandate-independence-push-humza-yousaf">Scottish Nationalist Party</a> and <a href="https://www.partyof.wales/annibyniaeth_i_gymru_welsh_independence">Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales</a>, which are nationalist political parties that respectively advocate for the Québécois of Québéc, the Scots of Scotland and the Welsh of Wales.</p>
<h2>Devotion to a place</h2>
<p>In contrast to nationalism’s loyalty for or devotion to one’s nation, patriotism is, per the same dictionary, “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patriotism">love for or devotion to one’s country</a>.” It comes from the word <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patriot">patriot</a>, which itself can be traced back to the Greek word <a href="https://logeion.uchicago.edu/%CF%80%CE%AC%CF%84%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82">patrios</a>, which means “of one’s father.” </p>
<p>In other words, patriotism has historically meant a love for and devotion to one’s <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fatherland">fatherland</a>, or country of origin.</p>
<p>Patriotism encompasses devotion to the country as a whole – including all the people who live within it. Nationalism refers to devotion to only one group of people over all others.</p>
<p>An example of <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/martin-luther-king-jr-model-american-patriot/">patriotism</a> would be Martin Luther King Jr.’s “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety#">I Have a Dream</a>” speech, in which <a href="https://theconversation.com/mlks-vision-of-love-as-a-moral-imperative-still-matters-89946">he</a> recites <a href="https://www.classical-music.com/features/works/my-country-tis-of-thee-lyrics/">the first verse</a> of the patriotic song “<a href="https://bensguide.gpo.gov/j-america-my-country">America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)</a>.” In his “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/04/16/177355381/50-years-later-kings-birmingham-letter-still-resonates">Letter from Birmingham Jail</a>,” King describes “nationalist groups” as being “<a href="https://www.csuchico.edu/iege/_assets/documents/susi-letter-from-birmingham-jail.pdf">made up of people who have lost faith in America</a>.”</p>
<p>George Orwell, the author of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/orwells-ideas-remain-relevant-75-years-after-animal-farm-was-published-165431">Animal Farm</a>” and “<a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-orwells-1984-and-how-it-helps-us-understand-tyrannical-power-today-112066">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a>,” describes patriotism as “<a href="https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/notes-on-nationalism/">devotion to a particular place</a> and a particular way of life.” </p>
<p>He contrasted that with nationalism, which he describes as “the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.”</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/smEqnnklfYs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech and other works, Martin Luther King Jr. decried nationalism and encouraged patriotism.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Nationalism vs. patriotism</h2>
<p>Adolf Hitler’s rise in Germany was accomplished by perverting patriotism and embracing nationalism. According to <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-understood-you-may-1958-the-return-of-de-gaulle-and-the-fall-of-frances-fourth-republic-93510">Charles de Gaulle</a>, who led <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Free-French">Free France</a> against Nazi Germany during World War II and later became president of France, “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/quotes/Charles-de-Gaulle-president-of-France">Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first</a>.” </p>
<p>The tragedy of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-websites-to-help-educate-about-the-horrors-of-the-holocaust-152702">Holocaust</a> was rooted in the nationalistic belief that certain groups of people were inferior. While Hitler is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/quantifying-the-holocaust-measuring-murder-rates-during-the-nazi-genocide-108984">particularly extreme example</a>, in my own research as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vXXZBEkAAAAJ&hl=en">human rights scholar</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219409">I have found</a> that even in contemporary times, countries with nationalist leaders are more likely to have bad human rights records.</p>
<p>After World War II, President Harry Truman signed the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/marshall-plan">Marshall Plan</a>, which would provide postwar aid to Europe. The intent of the program was to help European countries “<a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/special-message-the-congress-the-marshall-plan">break away from the self-defeating actions of narrow nationalism</a>.”</p>
<p>For Truman, putting <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/110537721192978858">America first</a> did not mean <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-foreign-policy-is-still-america-first-what-does-that-mean-exactly-144841">exiting the global stage</a> and sowing division at home with nationalist actions and <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-field-guide-to-trumps-dangerous-rhetoric-139531">rhetoric</a>. Rather, he viewed the “principal concern of the people of the United States” to be “the creation of conditions of enduring peace throughout the world.” For him, patriotically <a href="https://theconversation.com/america-cant-be-first-without-europe-75109">putting the interests of his country first</a> meant fighting against nationalism.</p>
<p>This view is in line with that of French President <a href="https://theconversation.com/president-macron-marches-to-parliamentary-majority-in-france-79245">Emmanuel Macron</a>, who has stated that “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t-QIqsCTr8">patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism</a>.” </p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.axios.com/2018/11/11/emmanuel-macron-nationalism-patriotism-donald-trump">Nationalism,” he says, “is a betrayal of patriotism</a>.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208170/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Holzer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nationalism and patriotism are sometimes treated as synonyms, but they have very different meanings.Joshua Holzer, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Westminster CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1832002022-07-07T12:18:39Z2022-07-07T12:18:39ZThe patriotic Virgin: How Mary’s been marshaled for religious nationalism and military campaigns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472863/original/file-20220706-12046-7z7nen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C73%2C8178%2C5395&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mural in Kyiv depicts the Virgin Mary cradling a U.S.-made anti-tank weapon, a Javelin, which is considered a symbol of Ukraine's defense against Russia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RussiaUkraineWar/26f26565d15c43dfa1ff107062c49a43/photo?Query=javelin&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=4051&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ever since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, analysts picking apart Vladimir Putin’s motives and messaging about the war have looked to religion for some of the answers. Putin’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/holy-wars-how-a-cathedral-of-guns-and-glory-symbolizes-putins-russia-176786">nationalist vision</a> paints Russia as a defender of traditional Christian values against a liberal, secular West.</p>
<p>Putin’s Russia, however, is only the latest in a centurieslong lineup of nations using religion to bolster their political ambitions. As <a href="https://dornsifecms.usc.edu/iacs/staff/">a Jesuit priest and scholar of Catholicism</a>, I’ve seen in my research on <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739140895/Toward-a-Catholic-Theology-of-Nationality">nationalism and religion</a> how patriotic loyalties and religious faith easily <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54484-7_1">borrow one another’s language, symbols and emotions</a>.</p>
<p>Western Christianity, including Catholicism, has often been enlisted to stir up patriotic fervor in support of nationalism. Historically, one <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43443-8">typical aspect of the Catholic approach</a> is linking devotion to the Virgin Mary with the interests of the state and military.</p>
<h2>The birth of a belief</h2>
<p>An Egyptian papyrus fragment from the fourth century is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctv8pzdqp.10.pdf">the first clear evidence</a> of Christians’ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F106385120801700106">praying to the Virgin Mary</a>. The brief prayer, which seeks Mary’s protection in times of trouble, is written in the first person plural – using language like “our” and “we” – which suggests a belief that Mary would respond to groups of people as well as individuals. </p>
<p>That conviction appeared to grow in the following centuries. After the Roman Emperor Constantine <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/654203/summary">converted to Christianity</a> in A.D. 312, the new faith developed a close relationship with his empire, including a belief that Mary looked with particular favor on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108990530.001">the capital city of Constantinople</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A gold mosaic shows a man with a halo holding up a model of a city." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472594/original/file-20220705-12-ipwdcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472594/original/file-20220705-12-ipwdcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472594/original/file-20220705-12-ipwdcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472594/original/file-20220705-12-ipwdcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472594/original/file-20220705-12-ipwdcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472594/original/file-20220705-12-ipwdcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472594/original/file-20220705-12-ipwdcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 10th-century Byzantine mosaic of Constantine the Great offering Constantinople to the Virgin Mary, at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/constantine-the-great-byzantine-mosaic-with-representation-news-photo/946130124?adppopup=true">Photo by PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Political and religious leaders asked the Virgin for victory in battle and <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-02551-3.html">shelter from plagues</a>. In A.D. 626, Constantinople was besieged by a Persian navy. Christians believed that their prayers to the Virgin destroyed the invading fleet, saving the city and its inhabitants. The Akathist hymn, which has been prayed in both the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches ever since, gives Mary the military title “Champion General” <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203036174">in thanks for that victory</a>. </p>
<p>In the Catholic West, military successes such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/22141332-00703003">European victories over the Ottoman Empire</a> were attributed to Mary’s intervention. Her blessing has been sought on <a href="https://doi.org/10.7560/706026">imperialist endeavors</a>, including <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/la-conquistadora-9780199892983?cc=us&lang=en&">Spain’s conquest of the Americas</a>. </p>
<p>Even today, Mary holds the title of general in the armies of <a href="https://www.liceosanmartin.edu.ar/24-de-septiembre-virgen-de-la-merced-patrona-del-ejercito-argentino/">Argentina</a> and <a href="https://www.ejercito.cl/efemerides/events/Njk=">Chile</a>, where she is considered <a href="http://www.iglesia.cl/detalle_noticia.php?id=2102">a national patroness</a>. The same association between Marian devotion and patriotism can be found in <a href="http://coloquioscanariasamerica.casadecolon.com/index.php/CHCA/article/view/10523/9898">many Latin American countries</a>.</p>
<h2>National symbol</h2>
<p>Off the battlefield, many Catholic cultures have historically felt they had a special relationship with Mary. In 1638, King Louis XIII <a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/rhef_0300-9505_1938_num_24_102_2849">formally dedicated France</a> to the Virgin Mary. Popular belief interpreted the subsequent birth of the future Louis XIV as Mary’s miraculous reward, after 23 years of waiting for a male heir. </p>
<p>About two decades later, Polish King Jan II Kazimierz <a href="https://polishfreedom.pl/en/lwow-vows-of-jan-kazimierz/">consecrated his country</a> to Mary amid a war. Both acts reflected church and political leaders’ beliefs that their countries had a sacred mission and divine approval for their political ambitions.</p>
<p>When these kinds of beliefs become widespread in a society, many scholars would label them religious nationalism – though there is a long-standing debate about when affection for one’s country becomes “<a href="http://journal.unair.ac.id/download-fullpapers-11-DUGIS.pdf">nationalism</a>.” There is widespread consensus, though, that religion is one of the most common <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/03058298000290030301">elements of nationalism</a>, and many nationalist projects have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43443-8">invoked Mary’s blessing</a>. </p>
<p>Polish territory, for example, was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria for more than a century. But Polish Catholics continued to address Mary as “<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna-Niedzwiedz/publication/314485295_Mary_in_Poland_A_Polish_Master_Symbol/links/58c2be7ba6fdcce648de1d36/Mary-in-Poland-A-Polish-Master-Symbol.pdf">Queen of Poland</a>.” Her title asserted the existence of the Polish people as a nation. And it implied that efforts to reestablish Poland as a sovereign country had a heavenly helper.</p>
<p>Similarly, in the 19th century, both Queen Victoria and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137315472_10">the Virgin Mary</a> were referred to in different contexts as “Queen of Ireland,” expressing two rival visions of Ireland: part of the Protestant United Kingdom, or a separate and essentially Catholic country.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="An illustration of the Virgin Mary inside a gold frame hangs on a wall beside a Mexican flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472600/original/file-20220705-18-8ylgw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472600/original/file-20220705-18-8ylgw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472600/original/file-20220705-18-8ylgw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472600/original/file-20220705-18-8ylgw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472600/original/file-20220705-18-8ylgw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472600/original/file-20220705-18-8ylgw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472600/original/file-20220705-18-8ylgw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration of the Virgin de Guadalupe in the Cathedral San Ildefonso in Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cathedral-san-ildefonso-in-merida-mexico-royalty-free-image/610839557?adppopup=true">John Elk III/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many different movements have used the figure of the Virgin to support their agendas. In colonial Mexico, the figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one title for Mary, was originally interpreted as <a href="http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?pid=S1405-09272010000200005&script=sci_arttext">being a champion of the “criollos</a>,” native-born inhabitants of Spanish descent. During the 1810-21 War of Mexican Independence, “<a href="https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/our-lady-of-guadalupe">la Guadalupana</a>” <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/537957">figured on the banners</a> of the “independista” forces. The Spanish army, meanwhile, adopted the “Virgin of Los Remedios,” another title for Mary, as their own patroness. She would later be invoked in support of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.509">Indigenous people and mestizos, people with both Indigenous and Spanish ancestry</a>.</p>
<p>Mary is invoked not only by nationalist causes. Sometimes she is inspiration for countercultural or protest movements, from <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19990124_mexico-autodromo.html">the pro-life cause</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137077714">Latina feminists</a>. Labor leader Cesar Chavez placed the image of Guadalupe <a href="https://libraries.ucsd.edu/farmworkermovement/gallery/displayimage.php?album=60&pid=1412#top_display_media">on banners</a> as his organization marched for farmworkers’ rights.</p>
<h2>Mary’s future</h2>
<p>All these uses draw on the ancient belief in Mary’s power to intervene in times of trouble. However, ideological, political and especially military ambitions and religious sentiment are a volatile mix. As the current war in Ukraine shows, allegiance to one’s nation, especially when it claims Christian inspiration, can inspire both <a href="https://theconversation.com/holy-wars-how-a-cathedral-of-guns-and-glory-symbolizes-putins-russia-176786">imperialist expansionism</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-war-rages-some-ukrainians-look-to-mary-for-protection-continuing-a-long-christian-tradition-178394">heroic resistance</a> to it.</p>
<p>This makes a better understanding of religious nationalism urgently important, especially for the church. Twentieth- and 21st-century popes have condemned <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-chronicles/nations-stirring-nationalism-betray-their-mission-pope-says">aggressive nationalism</a> but have not defined it clearly.</p>
<p>In cultures that are largely secularized, appeals for Mary’s protection or claims that she has a special relationship with any one nation are now likely to seem archaic, outlandish or sectarian. But what I know of both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935420.013.62">Marian devotion</a> and <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739140895/Toward-a-Catholic-Theology-of-Nationality">national identity</a> has convinced me that ancient patterns often survive and reassert themselves in new times and places. </p>
<p>Even where the practice of Catholicism is in decline, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gere.12307">Mary’s cultural significance</a> remains strong. And religion continues to be a regular element of many <a href="https://doi.org/doi:10.1017/nps.2021.17">nationalist agendas</a>. </p>
<p>My guess is that we have not seen the last of the warrior Virgin.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorian Llywelyn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many religions have been used to prop up nationalism, and Catholicism is no exception, as a Jesuit priest and scholar explains.Dorian Llywelyn, President, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1838502022-05-30T14:13:26Z2022-05-30T14:13:26ZKenya’s ‘patriotic’ choral music has been used to embed a skewed version of history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465751/original/file-20220527-23-mveqt7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A choir performs during independence day celebrations in Kenya.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Choral music – patriotic choral music in particular – is a significant genre in Kenya’s political history. </p>
<p>Patriotic music is defined by how it engages citizen to praise and express sentiments of national affiliation. In the Kenyan context patriotic choral music has been used to influence behaviour and the forming of a national identity. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.10520/EJC-f184b6256">traced the history</a> of the music to explore how it has been used in this way in the country. We found that songs that were composed and performed in the immediate aftermath of Kenya’s struggle for independence urged the public to forget colonial injustices to build the new country. </p>
<p>This music was used to create political heroes out of individuals at the expense of the hosts of people who contributed to the country’s independence. It continues to be used as a political tool. This is primarily done through a distribution network that involves airplay on both private and state broadcasters, and during national holidays. </p>
<h2>A long tradition</h2>
<p>Choral music was used to amplify former President Jomo Kenyatta’s widely publicised rhetoric of “forgive and forget”. </p>
<p>Kenya’s first president introduced the idea in his speech to the nation at the first celebration of Kenyatta Day – later renamed Mashujaa (Heroes) Day – on 20 October 1964. He <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279155301_Jomo_Kenyatta's_Speeches_and_the_Construction_of_the_Identities_of_a_Nationalist_Leader_in_Kenya">proclaimed that</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the foundation of our future must lie in the theme: forgive and forget.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It would later become a motto closely linked to his presidency. His policies inaugurated a national culture of selective socio-political amnesia.</p>
<p>This persists in contemporary Kenya. </p>
<p>Most of the choral music composed and performed in Kenya as ‘patriotic music’ has been embraced and influenced by the government through the Permanent Presidential Music Commission (PPMC). </p>
<p>The commission was established in 1988 under President Daniel arap Moi, Kenya’s second president. The government agency deals with the entertainment functions of the state, among others. </p>
<p>Music researchers <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40319249">Hellen Agak and Kakston Mindoti</a> observe that the commission scrutinises all Kenyan patriotic choral music to ensure that it conforms to the social and political ideals of the government. The commission also examines the quality of music and messages communicated.</p>
<p>Over different government regimes, patriotic choral music has been presented to the public through the national broadcaster and during state celebrations of national days. The music presented is curated through the commission. </p>
<p>During these celebrations, a few selected canonical choral pieces have continued to dominate through different governments and political regimes. </p>
<h2>The telling of history</h2>
<p>Our research focused mainly on the music of Enock Ondego, one of Kenya’s pioneer composers. Ondego’s ‘Huu ni Wimbo wa Historia’ (This is a Song of History) is perhaps the main choral composition that has persisted through different regimes.</p>
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<p>‘Huu ni Wimbo wa Historia’ was composed in May 1964. It was <a href="https://www.kwani.org/publication/kwanini-series/7/the_life_of_mzee_ondego.html">first performed</a> before President Kenyatta by the children of Samburu Primary School. </p>
<p>The song foregrounds the importance of the anti-colonial struggle in Kenya’s history. It opens with a plea to the audience to pay attention to the message. </p>
<p>It is a narrative of the experiences of different victims during the <a href="https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/sub-saharan-africa-region/british-kenya-1920-1963/#:%7E:text=British%20Government%20Evelyn%20Baring%20declared,militants%20on%20October%2022%2C%201952.">1952 emergency period</a>. The lyrics suggest that the struggle for Kenya’s independence was a collective moral phenomenon. Lines 7 and 8 – “there was sorrow in the country Kenya” and “all the people were very sad” – capture this reality. </p>
<p>In lines 14 and 15, the song further explains that there was “matata” (trouble) and that “many people died because of freedom”. </p>
<p>Yet, the history documented in the choral song is a selective one.</p>
<p>Despite the promise of its title, ‘Huu ni Wimbo wa Historia’ foregrounds only Kenyatta’s involvement in the freedom struggle. It does this by focusing on the supposed physical and emotional violence he faced as an individual. This erases the contribution of everyone else in the country’s struggle for independence. </p>
<p>The song initially mentions that Kenyatta was arrested together with other freedom fighters. But the others remain unnamed and unacknowledged (lines 4, 5 and 6). </p>
<p>Lines 20, 21, 22 and 23 invoke the memory of how Kenyatta and other representatives travelled to Britain to negotiate for Kenya’s constitution. Again, the lyrics foreground Kenyatta only. The promise of a collective identified by the idea of ‘representatives’ suddenly collapses into the singular. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When he reached there … he was beaten with rotten eggs … The father of the nation did not mind … he won and came back with a constitution for our country, Kenya. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Rather than recognising that Kenya’s constitutional victory was the result of collective endeavour, the song suggests that it was produced by the individual efforts of Kenyatta. </p>
<p>This silencing takes on added significance when considering the original naming of the commemorative day upon which this song reflects: Kenyatta Day. </p>
<p>The individuality cult of Kenyatta is central in understanding how music became a site where heroes were purged from Kenyan history, or where their role in the making of the nation was undermined. </p>
<p>Such narratives risk promoting socio-political, historical and even economic exclusion in the process of nation formation. </p>
<p>To echo literary professor Pumla Dineo Gqola’s work on <a href="https://witspress.co.za/catalogue/what-is-slavery-to-me/">postcolonial slave memory in South Africa</a>, forgetting and remembering are framed within power hierarchies, where “unremembering is a calculated act of exclusion and erasure”. </p>
<p>In the current government, songs such as ‘Huu ni Wimbo wa Historia’ continue to get significant airplay, especially on national holidays. </p>
<h2>Influencing memory and history</h2>
<p>By relying on such music for entertainment during state commemorative events, the presidential music commission plays a crucial function in statecraft, especially in the context of influencing memory and history. </p>
<p>But the musical and performance component of the songs also reveals that it is multi-layered. </p>
<p>The emotive tone and mood of ‘Huu ni Wimbo wa Historia’ demonstrate the immensity of the pain endured in the anti-colonial struggle. Feelings of despair and sorrow are painted through repetition and by onomatopoeic sounds, such as ‘woooi woooi’ (line 11). </p>
<p>Such sounds capture the general mourning response of the public not only to Kenyatta’s arrest, but also to the deaths and torture witnessed after the state of emergency was declared. </p>
<p>Hence, the song’s text seems to call for a celebratory turn towards the future, while simultaneously ruminating in the pain of the past through non-linguistic verbal signifiers that reach their full effect only in performance. </p>
<p>This shows that patriotic choral music in Kenya, although repeatedly used as a political tool, also shares the potential for contesting meaning and drawing listeners’ attention to different layers of significance embedded in musical texts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Music has often been used as a political tool to urge Kenyans to forget the sins of colonial and post-colonial regimes.Doseline Kiguru, Research associate, University of BristolPatrick Ernest Monte, Lecturer of Music, Kabarak UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1809372022-04-08T16:50:01Z2022-04-08T16:50:01ZUkrainian teens’ voices from the middle of war: ‘You begin to appreciate what was common and boring for you’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457137/original/file-20220408-25338-z8k6qn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C40%2C4430%2C2926&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A residential building destroyed by Russian army shelling in Borodyanka, Kyiv province. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/residential-building-destroyed-by-russian-army-shelling-in-news-photo/1239801570?adppopup=true">Hennadii Minchenko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A colleague from Kyiv, Ukraine, whom I’ll call N.M., sent me brief essays her students wrote on what they would do when the war ends. As <a href="https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/about-us/have-you-met-rutgers-newark/alexander-motyl">both a scholar and a novelist</a>, I knew that these voices, which expressed a beautifully straightforward and pure yearning for the simplest things that are lost in war, needed to be heard by the world. </p>
<p>The essays were written in English, and N.M., who has a master’s degree in English language and literature, told me she made only “2-3 corrections.” The students attend the 10th and 11th grades at a Kyiv school, are 15 to 17 years old, and hail from the capital city and its suburbs. The essays were written between March 14 and March 18, 2022. </p>
<p>Several themes run through most of the essays. The teens yearn for peace and want to do ordinary things, such as meet family and friends, take walks, enjoy the city. Daily routines have become extraordinary after several weeks of war. All intend to stay in Ukraine. Despair is absent. The students expect the war to end with a Ukrainian victory, and they’re decidedly proud to be Ukrainian. </p>
<p>Their optimism is all the more remarkable in light of the essays’ having been written in mid-March, when anything like victory seemed remote. Many of the students have also learned an important existential lesson: Life can be cut short at any time, and it’s imperative to live it to the hilt.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457139/original/file-20220408-41050-epsb8s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several teenagers, smiling and wearing face paint, take a group photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457139/original/file-20220408-41050-epsb8s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457139/original/file-20220408-41050-epsb8s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457139/original/file-20220408-41050-epsb8s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457139/original/file-20220408-41050-epsb8s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457139/original/file-20220408-41050-epsb8s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457139/original/file-20220408-41050-epsb8s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457139/original/file-20220408-41050-epsb8s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Before the war, Ukrainian teens weren’t thinking about bombs or hunger.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/youngsters-stained-with-coloured-powder-pose-for-a-selfie-news-photo/1153128844?adppopup=true">Mykola Miakshykov/Future Publishing via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Diana captures the overall mood well: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Literally 2 weeks ago, everyone lived their quiet daily lives, but one night these lives changed forever. Russia attacked our cities and forced some people to leave their homes forever or stay in a dangerous place and live in a fear. But the horror cannot be eternal, the end will come, and it will be significant for our country. After our victory I will definitely meet all my friends and family members, I will say how much I love them. Also I will appreciate every moment spent with family and people of my heart. Also I will definitely help my country to recover what it lost, I will volunteer and after graduating from school, I will enter that faculty which will be useful for Ukraine. Now we can just hope and pray for the best.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like Diana, Masha yearns for the ordinary: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Today the situation in our country is very difficult, and we understand that we did not appreciate our everyday life, our meetings with friends, and even a simple walk. … After all these circumstances, your views on life have changed, you begin to appreciate what was common and boring for you. After the war, we will all be completely different people!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Dasha’s expectations are equally quotidian: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When I come back home the first thing that I would do is play the piano. I will play as long as I can. After this, I will water my plants.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nastya, meanwhile, says, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’ll do everything I didn’t have time to do before the war. For example, I’ll go to the dentist, because it was that Thursday that I had an appointment with him for the evening. But most of all I want to come home to my peaceful and strong Ukraine.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Anya’s discovered the depth of her patriotism: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Every morning I get up and thank you God I’m alive. … When I heard explosions, I thought it can be my last minute. I will spend more time with my family and friends. And I will LOVE MY UKRAINE MORE THAN EVER.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So has Sofia: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We are strong, I am proud to be Ukrainian.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457140/original/file-20220408-25034-shyunu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of teens in a dark room, sitting at a table, listening to someone speak." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457140/original/file-20220408-25034-shyunu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457140/original/file-20220408-25034-shyunu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457140/original/file-20220408-25034-shyunu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457140/original/file-20220408-25034-shyunu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457140/original/file-20220408-25034-shyunu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457140/original/file-20220408-25034-shyunu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457140/original/file-20220408-25034-shyunu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Growing up fast: A group of teens listening to a military medic who came to teach them first aid on Feb. 20, 2022, in Skole, Ukraine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/teenagers-listen-to-the-military-medic-who-came-to-teach-news-photo/1371823268?adppopup=true">Gaelle Girbes/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Vlad is also feeling patriotic: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When this war is over I will be thanking our Heroes, absolutely fearless defenders, who have been protecting our country this time. I’m totally proud of them. Their behavior inspires all the world and this is wonderful. … Anyway, we’re winning this bloodshed and building new country with freedom for our descendants. … I hope, our culture will be the best in the world and people will start respect it.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Hlib’s optimism is both religious and political: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think that the war will be over when God says, because everything depends on him. Also when the President of Russia is removed or when all the supplies run out and all the soldiers retreat. When the Russian economy will be completely destroyed and the revolution will begin. When everyone will stop being afraid of the President of Russia and will oppose him. But the war will surely be over soon. Because good always wins.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Anzhelika’s expectations concern politics – and food: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I pray very much for Kyiv, because this is an incredible city that I dream of returning to! And after the war, of course, everyone will get drunk, so maybe I’ll drink a couple of drops for victory. And I dream of eating sushi, this is my favorite dish, so I’ll eat them all week. And of course I still want to go to university in Ukraine and live in Ukraine with my friends and relatives. And I believe that after the victory, not Ukraine will ask to join NATO, but NATO to [join] Ukraine, because our people have incredible strength! Glory to Ukraine!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Alina picks up on the theme of Ukraine’s strength: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“These three weeks of a continuous horror changed all of us. Some people were left homeless, some people were left without relatives and a huge amount of Ukrainians lost their lives for peace. But there is at least one principal thing, which is common for all of us: Our nation became stronger. We became stronger. … Everything will be tranquil again. Everything will be Ukraine.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>A second Alina looks at the war’s cost - and how Ukraine will move forward in its aftermath:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Sooner or later the war will stop. These events will leave an imprint in every Ukrainian. … Maybe we will bury many thousands of people, but they all did not fall in vain. We will remember everyone. Then we will renovate our houses, malls, museums. … Ukrainian will build their future in a progressive country. We will all develop and other countries will respect us. No one will ask anymore ‘Ukraine? Where is it? Is it in Russia?’ Our country will join NATO and European Union. In the end no one will attack us again.”</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Motyl does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A group of Ukrainian teens writes about what they will do when the war ends. ‘The first thing that I would do is play the piano. I will play as long as I can,’ writes one.Alexander Motyl, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1769592022-02-14T18:02:34Z2022-02-14T18:02:34ZAlleging a commitment to ‘freedom,’ the convoy takes a page from the Cold War playbook<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446282/original/file-20220214-13-1sswv5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C681%2C3960%2C1950&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man holds a sign on Parliament Hill to support trucks lined up in protest of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the end of the <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ambassador-bridge-reopens-after-week-long-protest-1.5779561">blockade at the Ambassador Bridge</a> and the deal brokered by the City of Ottawa to <a href="https://twitter.com/Tamara_MVC/status/1493072750642180103">remove trucks from residential areas</a>, it might appear that the so-called freedom convoy is winding down. But the challenge of how to proceed remains. </p>
<p>Trucks are still in Ottawa, just being moved to different locations, and the numerous <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8616147/paris-france-convoy-protest-covid-19-restrictions/">copy-cat protests</a> suggest that this movement has sparked something larger. </p>
<p>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must not only figure out how to address the immediate situation, but also how to resolve the protest in a way that doesn’t further divide civil society and give fuel to anti-government sentiments.</p>
<p>One of the reasons resolving this issue is so complicated is that the protests are being organized under the banner of freedom and patriotism. </p>
<p>In Ottawa, people have <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-canadian-flag-and-the-freedom-convoy-the-co-opting-of-canadian-symbols-176436">adorned themselves and their vehicles in the Canadian flag</a>. They have dared local residents and government authorities to <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/trucker-convoy-protest-enters-day-17-in-ottawa-arrests-in-windsor">challenge their patriotism</a>. </p>
<p>It is a powerful strategy because they are using the very nation-building tools that states and political parties have used historically in the United States and Canada.</p>
<h2>Principles of freedom</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/07/freedom-without-constraints-how-the-us-squandered-its-cold-war-victory">Freedom as a nation-building tool</a> was perhaps most palpable in the four and a half decades of <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history">the Cold War</a>, which pitted western democracies — “the free world” — against the communist bloc. </p>
<p>It was a period in which the use of rhetoric and propaganda on both sides was <a href="https://brill.com/view/title/16758">instrumental in shaping the conflict</a> and the expectations that people had of the world in which they lived. As <a href="https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1946-1963-elder-statesman/the-sinews-of-peace/">British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proclaimed</a> in 1947, the west stood for “the great principles of freedom and the rights of man.”</p>
<p>The rhetoric of freedom was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195399684.001.0001">especially pronounced when refugee movements</a> provided an opportunity for the United States and its western allies to gain value propaganda points. </p>
<p>In 1954, when Vietnam was divided into the communist-controlled Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the State of Vietnam, the U.S. Navy organized “<a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/humanitarian/20th-century/1950-1959/1954-1955-vietnam-operation-passage-to-freedom.html">Operation Passage to Freedom</a>” which relocated 300,000 people from the communist north to the free south. </p>
<p>The U.S. Navy didn’t just undertake this operation quietly: ships were emblazoned with slogans that spoke to the spirit of the mission.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People are boarding a ship, a big banner reads 'this is your passage to freedom'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446274/original/file-20220214-27-81io7y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446274/original/file-20220214-27-81io7y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446274/original/file-20220214-27-81io7y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446274/original/file-20220214-27-81io7y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446274/original/file-20220214-27-81io7y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446274/original/file-20220214-27-81io7y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446274/original/file-20220214-27-81io7y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Operation Passage to Freedom’ loads up passengers who wanted to leave North Vietnam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:80-G-647057.jpg">(National Archives 80-G-647057)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The ‘freedom fighter’</h2>
<p>In November 1956, students and workers sought to overthrow <a href="https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956">the Stalinist government of Mátyás Rákosi in Hungary</a>. The revolt was quickly suppressed, but out of that defeat emerged the undaunted spirit of the “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/world/europe/hungary-refugee-1956.html">freedom fighter</a>,” somebody who was willing to die for their ideals, beliefs in freedom and democracy. </p>
<p>Although neighbouring countries — namely Austria — received the vast majority of the refugees, the U.S. and Canada resettled 38,000 and 30,000 refugees respectively, giving substance to the idea of freedom. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1957/1/19/dear-mr-pickersgill-thanks-for-the-hungarian-refugees">an editorial in <em>Maclean</em>’s</a> observed: “Our brave phrases in the UN would sound awfully hollow in Eastern Europe if we didn’t show that Canada is, and always will be, a haven for those who must flee from tyranny.”</p>
<p>In the U.S., <a href="http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19570107,00.html"><em>Time</em> named the “Hungarian Patriot”</a> or the “Hungarian freedom fighter” its man of the year. The 1957 issue featured an image of a proud fighter holding a gun, with tanks and a shredded Hungarian flag in the background. The cover story declared that the freedom fighter had “shaken history’s greatest despotism to its foundations.”</p>
<h2>A bid for freedom</h2>
<p>As cultural studies scholar <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-gift-of-freedom">Mimi Nguyen has underscored</a>, the idea of freedom was again used as a powerful tool following the <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-withdraws-from-vietnam">American defeat in Vietnam in 1975</a> when the U.S. airlifted out thousands of people who had worked with the military or with civilian authorities. </p>
<p>As communist oppression worsened in subsequent years, people began to leave by boat, often in dangerous conditions, leading to an <a href="https://www.history.com/news/vietnam-war-refugees">international refugee crisis by 1979</a>. </p>
<p>In September 1976, Captain Bryan Oag Hunter Brown rescued 31 passengers from a leaking vessel in the South China Sea. Reflecting <a href="https://mqup.ca/running-on-empty-products-9780773548817.php">on their travails, Captain Brown wrote</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The story for these Vietnamese is far from over but they were very lucky. They were originally from North Vietnam and flew south when the north turned communist. Now they have flown again this time, they hope and believe the American propaganda, to a land of freedom … They are alive, free and at least have some hope.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He then mused: “How many have perished in their bid for freedom?”</p>
<p>Captain Brown’s words remind us of the powerful draw that the idea of freedom has had on the hearts and minds of people globally. It has propelled people to rise up, to resist, and in some cases to flee oppression. </p>
<p>But as a look back at the Cold War era suggests, it is also a concept that has long been politicized, and used to create enemies of those who think differently.</p>
<h2>A divisive tool</h2>
<p>In the context of the Cold War, it was state authorities, especially in the U.S. but also in Canada, who used the language of freedom to convince citizens and non-citizens alike of the virtue of their societies and their international interventions. </p>
<p>This time, with the “freedom convoy,” protesters are turning the language of freedom against their own governments. The implications, and repercussions of this, are enormous and go beyond the immediate question of how to resolve the various occupations and protests. </p>
<p>Governments know all too well — for it is a strategy they have used themselves — that the language of freedom is a powerful ideological tool, and a divisive one.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176959/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Madokoro does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Freedom convoy’ protesters are turning the language of freedom against their own governments. The implications and repercussions of this are enormous.Laura Madokoro, Associate Professor, Department of History, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1712832021-12-06T13:42:10Z2021-12-06T13:42:10ZHow did Uncle Sam become a symbol for the United States?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434191/original/file-20211126-23-1i51zrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C76%2C2955%2C1688&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You never know where Uncle Sam will make an appearance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/giant-motorcycle-riding-uncle-sam-carries-new-york-firemen-news-photo/689423?adppopup=true">David McNew/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>How did Uncle Sam become a symbol for the United States? – Henry E., age 10, Somerville, Massachusetts</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Most Americans easily recognize <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-nicknamed-uncle-sam">Uncle Sam</a> as a symbol of the United States or a national nickname. Typically portrayed as an older white man with a long white goatee and a top hat, he’s almost always decked out in red, white and blue attire. </p>
<p>His image represents the U.S. government in <a href="https://www.politico.com/interactives/2021/presidents-day-2021-opinion-is-it-time-to-re-think-uncle-sam/#slide-8">political cartoons</a>, or as a stand-in for the American people everywhere from <a href="https://www.atlutd.com/news/five-stripe-flashbacks-tifos">soccer games</a> to <a href="https://eduardobarraza.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Political-rally-draws-candidates-for-Arizona-Nov-6-general-election/G0000CN7w.HyKs10/I000075uKKFICALQ">political rallies</a>.</p>
<p>He has come to represent a patriotic ideal in popular culture. In the Marvel Universe, <a href="https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Captain_America:_The_First_Avenger">Captain America</a>’s costume resembles what Uncle Sam wears. That character is not only strong, but compassionate.</p>
<p>The most familiar Uncle Sam image of all time is an <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsc.03521/">Army recruiting poster</a> designed by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/03/the-uncle-sam-i-want-you-poster-is-100-years-old-almost-everything-about-it-was-borrowed/">James Montgomery Flagg</a> in 1917. In it, Uncle Sam proclaims “I WANT YOU,” while sternly pointing directly at the onlooker.</p>
<p>That World War I publicity campaign worked so well that the government used the image again to recruit soldiers and other members of the armed forces during <a href="https://amhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=548">World War II</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Uncle Sam points at the onlooker in an iconic 'I Want You for the U.S. Army' recruitment poster." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434193/original/file-20211126-21-1mq0det.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1013&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist James Montgomery Flagg designed this iconic 1917 recruitment poster.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsc.03521/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Columbia’ and ‘Brother Jonathan’</h2>
<p>Uncle Sam isn’t the only symbol that U.S. artists and illustrators have used to convey political issues of the day.</p>
<p>One of the earliest symbolic stand-ins for the United States was “<a href="https://www.meetamerica.com/before-lady-liberty-reigned-columbia-was-americas-patriotic-female-personification">Columbia</a>,” a female icon usually dressed in a toga.</p>
<p>In one famous depiction, she’s seen mourning President Abraham Lincoln, joined by <a href="https://www.royalmint.com/britannia/britannia-icon-on-the-coin/">Britannia</a>, another female character who personifies England, and a formerly enslaved person whose plight remains unclear.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sorrowful Britannia, standing, lays a wreath on Lincoln's shrouded body while Columbia weeps as she clutches the U.S. flag and a freed enslaved person mourns." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434194/original/file-20211126-15-js68ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Britannia consoles Columbia while a formerly enslaved person weeps in this 1865 image by the artist John Tenniel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/britannia-sympathises-with-columbia-1865-only-days-after-news-photo/463927737">The Cartoon Collector/Print Collector via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So where did Uncle Sam’s name come from? According to a <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-nicknamed-uncle-sam">resolution Congress approved in 1961</a>, it originated with meat supplier Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York. During the War of 1812, he marked his materials for military use with “U.S.” Workers at the time would tell a joke along the lines that “Uncle Sam” Wilson was feeding the Army.</p>
<p>Perhaps not coincidentally, two African-American Marvel superheroes are named Sam Wilson: “<a href="https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/The_Falcon_and_The_Winter_Soldier">The Falcon</a>,” who goes on to become Captain America following Steve Rogers’ retirement, and Samantha Wilson, who assumed the role of Captain America in the recent <a href="https://www.marvel.com/comics/series/20505/spider-gwen_2015_-_2018">Spider-Gwen series</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Brother Jonathan holds a scythe in a 19th-century postcard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434211/original/file-20211126-25-2ylidz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Brother Jonathan,’ an early U.S. symbol, may have gradually turned into Uncle Sam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/brother-jonathan-an-early-personification-of-the-united-news-photo/505925783">Kean Collection/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But there was another figure resembling Uncle Sam called <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/brother-jonathan-uncle-sam">Brother Jonathan</a> who emerged earlier.</p>
<p>That personification of the United States was possibly modeled on <a href="https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/brother-jonathan-american-icon/">John Trumbull</a>, a Colonial Connecticut governor who opposed British rule during the War of Independence. <a href="http://www.sonofthesouth.net/uncle-sam/brother-jonathan.htm">Brother Jonathan may have morphed into Uncle Sam</a> around the time of the Civil War, before fading away.</p>
<p>In an 1876 advertisement, this young, slender man who symbolized the nation wore clothing that echoes the American flag. He looked a lot like a younger and cleanshaven version of Uncle Sam.</p>
<p>It’s possible that the lankiness and facial features that Uncle Sam inherited from later depictions of Brother Jonathan were a tribute to <a href="https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/uncle-sam-army-recruitment-poster/10169">President Abraham Lincoln</a>.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Bruski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The iconic image may have originated with a meat supplier named Samuel Wilson. Or not.Paul Bruski, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1701682021-10-18T18:33:14Z2021-10-18T18:33:14ZAs a patriot and Black man, Colin Powell embodied the ‘two-ness’ of the African American experience<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427041/original/file-20211018-20-8qfg2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3099%2C2063&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A complex legacy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ObitPowell/d8c0b643cb3e4277ae88f7fdfcb0edb8/photo?Query=colin%20powell&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=674&currentItemNo=15">AP Photo/Vincent Michel</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Colin Powell knew where he fit in American history.</p>
<p>The former secretary of state – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/us/politics/colin-powell-dead.html">who died</a> on Oct. 18, 2021, at 84 as a result of COVID-19 complications – was a pioneer: the first Black national security advisor in U.S. history, the first Black chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and also the first Black man to become secretary of state.</p>
<p>But his “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/133242/my-american-journey-by-colin-powell-with-joseph-e-persico/">American journey</a>” – as he described it in the title of an autobiography – is more than the story of one man. His death is a moment to think about the history of Black American men and women in the military and the place of African Americans in government. </p>
<p>But more profoundly, it also speaks to what it means to be an American, and the tensions that Colin Powell – as a patriot and a Black man – faced throughout his life and career. </p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/facultyguide/person.html?emplid=7f443ffde35747ba69faca210faff07145fab78c">scholar of African American studies</a> who is currently writing a book on the great civil rights intellectual W.E.B. DuBois. When I heard of Powell’s passing, I was immediately reminded of what DuBois referred to as the “<a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-consciousness/">double-consciousness</a>” of the African American experience.</p>
<p>As DuBois put it <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1897/08/strivings-of-the-negro-people/305446/">in an 1897 article</a> and later in his classic 1903 book “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1897/08/strivings-of-the-negro-people/305446/">The Souls of Black Folk</a>,” this “peculiar sensation” is unique to African Americans: “One feels his two-ness – an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”</p>
<p>This concept profoundly describes Colin Powell as a soldier, a career military man and a politician.</p>
<h2>What it means to serve</h2>
<p>On the surface, Colin Powell’s life would seem to refute DuBois’ formulation. He stood as someone that many people could point to as an example of how it is possible to be both Black and a full American, something DuBois viewed as an enduring tension. There is a narrative that Powell <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3843957">used the military to transcend race</a> and become one of the most powerful men in the country. In that sense, he was the ultimate American success story.</p>
<p>But there is a danger to that narrative. Colin Powell’s story was exceptional, but he was no avatar of a color-blind, post-racial America.</p>
<p>The U.S. Army has long been seen as a route for Black Americans, especially young Black men, out of poverty. Many chose to turn their service into a career. </p>
<p>By the time Powell, the <a href="https://bronx.news12.com/bronx-raised-colin-powell-leaves-behind-a-legacy-in-nyc">Bronx-raised</a> son of Jamaican immigrants, joined the U.S. Army, there was already a proud history of African Americans in the U.S. military – from the “<a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/proud-legacy-buffalo-soldiers">Buffalo Soldiers” who served in the American West, the Caribbean and South Pacific</a> after the U.S. Civil War to the <a href="https://www.tuskegee.edu/support-tu/tuskegee-airmen">Tuskegee Airmen</a> of World War II.</p>
<p>Powell was part of that military history. He joined in 1958, a decade after <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=84">desegregation of the Armed Forces</a> in 1948.</p>
<p>But the military was – <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-military-racism-discrimination-4e840e0acc7ef07fd635a312d9375413">and still is</a> – an institution characterized by structural racism. That was true when Powell joined the Army, and it is true today.</p>
<p>As such, Powell would have had to wrestle with his blackness and what it meant in the military: What did it mean to serve a country that doesn’t serve you?</p>
<p>As a military man during the Vietnam War, Powell also stood apart from many Black political leaders <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/beyond-vietnam">who condemned U.S. action</a> in Southeast Asia. </p>
<p>While Muhammad Ali <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/28/muhammad-ali-50-years-ago-today-was-told-to-step-forward-he-refused/">was asking why</a> he should “put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people” at a time when “so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights,” Powell was making his way up the military ranks.</p>
<p>It helps explain why despite Powell’s undoubted achievements, his legacy as a Black leader is complicated. His identity – being of Jamaican heritage – posed questions about what it means to be an African American. His life in the military prompted some to ask why he would serve a country that has historically been hostile to nonwhite people in the U.S. and around the world. The veteran activist and singer Harry Belafonte likened Powell in 2002 to a “house slave” in one <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/oct/11/news">particularly contentious remark</a> questioning his loyalty to the U.S. system.</p>
<p>Powell acknowledged the realities of racism in the U.S., while at the same time believed it should never serve as an obstacle nor cause Black people to question their American-ness. In a <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/cpowell.html">May 14, 1994 commencement speech at Howard University</a>, Powell told graduates to take pride in their Black heritage, but to use it as “a foundation stone we can build on, and not a place to withdraw into.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Colin Powell, seated behind a microphone and 'United States' nameplate speaks to the United Nations Security Council." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427043/original/file-20211018-15-1smds7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colin Powell addresses the United Nations Security Council.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Obit-Powell/66a341e1e4e2487fbfe7ea59c2ac4fda/photo?Query=colin%20powell%20united%20nations&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=12&currentItemNo=4">AP Photo/Elise Amendola</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>And then there are his political affiliations. He was Ronald Reagan’s national security advisor and George H. W. Bush’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff at a time when the domestic policies of both presidents were devastating Black America, through <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/history-mass-incarceration">mass incarceration of Black men and women</a> and <a href="https://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc52b.pdf">economic policies</a> that stripped services in lower-income areas.</p>
<p>That was before one of the most consequential and controversial moments in Powell’s political life. </p>
<p>In February 2003, Powell <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/06/lie-after-lie-what-colin-powell-knew-about-iraq-fifteen-years-ago-and-what-he-told-the-un/">argued before the United Nations Security Council</a> for military action against Iraq – a speech that erroneously claimed that Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. He hadn’t, and the war that Powell helped steer the U.S. into scars his legacy.</p>
<h2>A complicated existence</h2>
<p>Powell’s two-ness, to use the DuBois phrase, manifested later in his decision in 2008 to endorse Barack Obama as presidential candidate over his fellow Republican and military man, John McCain.</p>
<p>In Obama, Powell saw “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/19/colin.powell/">a transformational figure</a>” in America and on the world stage.</p>
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<p>In endorsing Obama, Powell chose the historic significance of the U.S. having its first Black president over loyalty and service to his friend and political party. </p>
<p>His drift from Republicanism furthered after Donald Trump seized the reins of the party. He became <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/colin-powell-calls-trump-liar-says-he-skirts-constitution-will-n1227016">increasingly vocal in opposing Trump</a>, who saw Powell – as did many of Trump’s supporters – as something of a traitor.</p>
<p>That view ignores the history.</p>
<p>Powell was a patriot who embodied DuBois’ “two warring ideals in one dark body.” For Powell to have reached the heights he did required dogged strength and perhaps far greater effort to hold it together than his white predecessors. </p>
<p>In America, being Black and a patriot is – as DuBois hinted at more an a century ago, and as Powell’s life attests to – a very complicated, even painful, affair.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170168/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chad Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of African American studies explores how the former secretary of state, who died at 84, dealt with what WEB DuBois described as the ‘double-consciousness’ of being Black and American.Chad Williams, Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African American Studies, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1642172021-07-22T18:20:19Z2021-07-22T18:20:19ZIn the wake of Indian Residential School findings, how can we cheer for Canada at the Olympics?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412870/original/file-20210723-19-nhxjqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C3544%2C2344&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Team Canada flag-bearers Miranda Ayim and Nathan Hirayama carry the Canadian flag at the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Olympics offer Canadians an opportunity to experience a collective sense of national unity and pride. But in the wake of discoveries of <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-saskatchewan-first-nation-discovers-hundreds-of-unmarked-graves-at/">thousands of unmarked graves</a> at former Indian Residential Schools across the country, this year’s Olympics will feel undeniably different for many Canadians. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/amid-more-shocking-residential-schools-discoveries-non-indigenous-people-must-take-action-161965">Amid more shocking residential schools discoveries, non-Indigenous people must take action</a>
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<p>Canadians will watch the Tokyo Games on television less than a month after <a href="https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/shame-on-canada-thousands-attend-cancel-canada-day-rally-on-parliament-hill-1.5493234">many participated</a> in “Cancel Canada Day” rallies and protesters tore down statues of colonial figures in <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/renewed-calls-to-cancel-canada-day-in-wake-of-residential-school-gravesite-discovery-1.5459568">Toronto</a>, <a href="https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/victoria-statue-of-captain-cook-pulled-down-thrown-into-harbour-1.5494067">Victoria</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57693683">Winnipeg.</a> </p>
<p>In the wake of all this, settlers such as myself must ask ourselves: How can we cheer for our country after all that’s been happening? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Headless statue lying on the ground covered in protest signs and red paint" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411106/original/file-20210713-15-1unwywy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411106/original/file-20210713-15-1unwywy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411106/original/file-20210713-15-1unwywy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411106/original/file-20210713-15-1unwywy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411106/original/file-20210713-15-1unwywy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411106/original/file-20210713-15-1unwywy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411106/original/file-20210713-15-1unwywy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A statue of Queen Victoria in Winnipeg was overturned and vandalized on Canada Day during demonstrations concerning Indigenous children who died at residential schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kelly Geraldine Malone)</span></span>
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<p>Audiences should use the Tokyo Games to confront the <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">history and persistence of colonialism in Canada</a>. Expressions of patriotism in Canada cannot be neatly separated from <a href="https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/society/article/download/34003/26078/">ongoing colonization and systemic racism</a>, except through feats of mental gymnastics.</p>
<p>Let’s leave the gymnastics to the athletes competing in Tokyo and, instead, pay attention to the displays of settler colonialism that will happen during the Games.</p>
<p>My research investigates how Canadian-hosted sporting events, like the Olympics, shape national identity. I am currently writing a book, <em>Commodifying the Nation: Sport, Commercialism and Settler Colonialism in Canada</em>. In it, I argue that settlers often avoid recognizing uncomfortable truths about the nation when they express their patriotism. These truths include the mistreatment and assimilation of Indigenous children in residential schools. </p>
<h2>Reminders of settler colonialism</h2>
<p>There is a tendency to focus on large, highly visible objects that represent Canada’s colonial identity, like the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/egerton-ryerson-statue-caledonia-land-back-lane-1.6059513">recently toppled statue of Egerton Ryerson</a>, who played a major role in the establishment of the residential school system in Canada. But this identity is also recalled in the various ways settler Canadians express their pride at international sporting events. </p>
<p>One reminder of colonialism will be embodied — literally — by Canadian athletes at the Games who will be wearing outfits designed by the <a href="https://olympic.ca/2020/08/10/team-canada-and-hudsons-bay-unveil-tokyo-2020-kit-2/">Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC)</a>, which has been the Canadian Olympic team’s <a href="http://www.hbcheritage.ca/history/social-history/hbc-and-sports">official outfitter</a> since 2013.</p>
<p>Besides Team Canada’s outfits being created by the company, its iconic “point blanket” logo featuring coloured stripes appears on the outfits, along with national symbols like the maple leaf.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Waist-up shot of two women wearing red zip-up jackets with CANADA spelled across the front." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411107/original/file-20210713-25-1yatwbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411107/original/file-20210713-25-1yatwbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411107/original/file-20210713-25-1yatwbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411107/original/file-20210713-25-1yatwbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411107/original/file-20210713-25-1yatwbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411107/original/file-20210713-25-1yatwbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411107/original/file-20210713-25-1yatwbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Gymnast Ellie Black, left, and Brooklyn Moors wear their official Olympic jackets during an event presenting the Canadian Olympic Artistic Gymnastics team for the Tokyo 2020 games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>HBC’s logo calls attention to its historical contributions to settler nation-building practices in Canada. Created by royal charter in 1670, King Charles II of England <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP6CH1PA5LE.html">gave HBC the authority</a> to trade and negotiate treaties with Indigenous groups and to defend territory from them.</p>
<p>Employees exchanged point blankets for beaver pelts supplied by Indigenous peoples, making them important items of the early fur trade. By conflating Team Canada’s outfits with HBC merchandise, this creates an association between the company and patriotic sentiments. It also contributes to the erasure of the nation’s history of colonialism. </p>
<p>Activists drew attention to this history in 2010 when Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics. They argued that Canadians who wore the HBC-produced Team Canada red and white mittens had “<a href="https://web.resist.ca/%7Etarsandsfreebc/downloads/hbc.pdf">blood on their hands</a>” and were “wearing Canada’s history of colonialism.” </p>
<p>The ubiquity of HBC-branded Olympic clothing can productively draw attention to the history activists called on audiences to recognize back in 2010. </p>
<h2>The present day</h2>
<p>It would be a mistake to think that only the past is being obscured in collective displays of patriotism. </p>
<p>The reality that settler colonialism persists in Canada is too easily disavowed in celebratory representations of the nation. Disavowal is a particular type of forgetting. It involves knowing facts but failing to recognize the full significance or meaning of such facts. </p>
<p>When we disavow the injustices occurring around us, we fail to stop them from continuing. The example of anti-Olympic activists who protested the 2010 Games is once again instructive. They made it impossible to completely disavow the fact that the Games were being held on unceded Indigenous territory that is not governed by treaty. </p>
<p>Presently, we must not forget that the Canadian government and institutions continue to engage in practices that disadvantage Indigenous peoples and infringe upon their rights, such as the federal government’s <a href="https://fncaringsociety.com/about-us">chronic under-funding of Indigenous child and family services</a> that’s led to an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/08/canada-indigenous-children-deaths-residential-schools">over-representation of Indigenous children</a> in the child welfare system and the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-its-all-too-common-for-indigenous-patients-to-face-racism-and-neglect/">sytemic racism</a> present in Canada’s health-care system. </p>
<h2>What to do while cheering on Team Canada</h2>
<p>I am not calling for settlers to wallow in guilt. Now is not the time to focus on how settlers feel. It is instead time to confront the reality of the consequences of residential schools and the <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/sixties_scoop/">‘60s Scoop.</a> </p>
<p>Land dispossession and systemic racism continue to exist and the historic mistreatment of Indigenous peoples is still ongoing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-many-canadians-dont-seem-to-care-about-the-lasting-effects-of-residential-schools-161968">Why many Canadians don’t seem to care about the lasting effects of residential schools</a>
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<p>Canadians should start by holding our governments and institutions accountable, and encourage the implementation of the <a href="http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Michael Linklater stands for a photograph at a outdoor basketball court near his home in Saskatoon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411375/original/file-20210715-21-835uvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411375/original/file-20210715-21-835uvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411375/original/file-20210715-21-835uvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411375/original/file-20210715-21-835uvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411375/original/file-20210715-21-835uvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411375/original/file-20210715-21-835uvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411375/original/file-20210715-21-835uvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">No self-identified Indigenous athletes will be competing for Canada at the Tokyo Olympics. For years, Nehiyaw (Cree) athlete Michael Linklater of Saskatoon was one of the country’s top 3x3 basketball players. While 3x3 basketball is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo, Canada failed to qualify. Linklater will be a basketball analyst for CBC’s Olympic coverage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Calls 87-91 include telling the national story of Indigenous athletes and supporting Indigenous athletes’ development. </p>
<p>As settlers tune in to watch Canadian athletes compete in Tokyo this summer, they can seek out stories about Indigenous athleticism and leadership in sport because they won’t find any on their screens. No self-identified Indigenous athlete is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/indigenous-athletes-barriers-olympics-1.6061509">competing for Canada this year</a>.</p>
<p>As you wear your red and white and cheer for Canada from the comfort of your home, remember the history this patriotism was built on — and the ongoing colonialism that helps solidify it.</p>
<p><em>If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Estee Fresco does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How can settler-Canadians cheer for their country at the Tokyo Olympics after the recent discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves of children who attended Indian Residential Schools?Estee Fresco, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1469652020-10-01T12:27:07Z2020-10-01T12:27:07ZWhat makes a ‘good’ patriot? Donald Trump may be surprised by an ethicist’s answer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360893/original/file-20200930-20-1c3gdbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1830%2C1220&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Your country needs YOU to be a critical friend.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-speaks-during-a-daily-briefing-of-news-photo/1219059988?adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When President Donald Trump talks about “patriots” – and <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tariniparti/donald-trump-patriot-shutdown">he does, a lot</a> – he probably doesn’t have in mind a fictional Black American sailor sitting in a cafe in Wales, listening to locals sing folks songs. </p>
<p>But in Ralph Ellison’s short story “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/46128/flying-home-by-ralph-ellison/">In a Strange Country</a>,” the protagonist, Mr. Parker, listens to Welsh songs that simultaneously express loyalty to the queen and defiance of England, and sees something of his own situation and conflicting feelings to the land of his birth. When the locals begin to sing “The Star Spangled Banner,” Mr. Parker finds himself singing along. Thousands of miles away from his homeland and fighting back tears, he sings his national anthem for the first time without irony. </p>
<p>It is a form of patriotism echoed by another Black American, this time the very nonfictional author and thinker James Baldwin. In 1963, <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/jsse/1052">Baldwin wrote</a>: “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.”</p>
<p>Trump sees patriotism differently. For him, it is unconditional. Even before coming to office, he was tweeting about the topic, on one occasion using the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/85741-patriotism-is-supporting-your-country-all-the-time-and-your">Mark Twain adage</a>: “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"428643027859419137"}"></div></p>
<p>More recently, he has <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1300019849540886528?lang=en">bestowed the term on his supporters</a> and sought to cast them as being more patriotic than Black Lives Matter protesters.</p>
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<h2>Pitting 1776 against 1619</h2>
<p>In September, Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/17/914127266/trump-announces-patriotic-education-commission-a-largely-political-move">announced plans</a> for a “patriotic” and “pro-American” curriculum in American public schools.</p>
<p>In unveiling a proposed “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/17/914127266/trump-announces-patriotic-education-commission-a-largely-political-move">1776 Commission</a>” to ensure that “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwnmxQulT3w">our youth will be taught to love America</a>,” Trump was seemingly responding to The New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html">1619 Project</a>. That <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/magazine/1619-intro.html">project aims to</a> “reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1161614670547083265"}"></div></p>
<p>Trump appears to imply that loving America is incompatible with acknowledging that the U.S. has oppressed certain people and groups on its path to glory.</p>
<h2>Deciphering the word ‘patriot’</h2>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.ai.edu/study-learn/faculty-profiles/dr-stewart-clem">moral theologian</a> and someone who frequently engages the writings of medieval thinkers, I can’t help but notice that this understanding of patriotism is relatively novel. The concept that a “good” patriot unquestionably loves his country unconditionally is not in keeping with how it has been viewed throughout history.</p>
<p>The word “patriot” comes from the ancient Greek “patrios,” translated as “of one’s fathers.” As such, in the original meaning a patriot is someone who belongs to one’s fatherland. No judgment was made as to how that person should view the fatherland. This came later.</p>
<p><a href="https://bartholomew.stanford.edu/scholasticism.html">The medieval scholastics</a> – a diverse group of thinkers including such luminaries as St. Bonaventure and St. Anselm of Canterbury – were known for reviving and developing ideas that originated in ancient Greek philosophy.</p>
<p>To belong to something, according to the scholastics, is not a mere observation of fact. It generates moral obligations, because we owe a debt to the things that give us life. As <a href="https://aquinas.cc/la/en/%7EST.II-II.Q101.A1.C">St. Thomas Aquinas wrote</a>, “The principles of our being and government are our parents and our country, which have given us birth and nourishment. Thus, a person is debtor chiefly to their parents and their country, after God.”</p>
<h2>The virtue of piety</h2>
<p>The scholastics had a name for this virtue: piety. The virtuous person honors and loves the things that have brought them into being, and this includes one’s homeland. “Piety,” <a href="https://aquinas.cc/la/en/%7EST.II-II.Q101.A3.Rep1">St. Thomas writes</a>, “is a declaration of the love we bear towards our parents and our country.” </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360915/original/file-20200930-16-6y0xjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360915/original/file-20200930-16-6y0xjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360915/original/file-20200930-16-6y0xjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360915/original/file-20200930-16-6y0xjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360915/original/file-20200930-16-6y0xjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360915/original/file-20200930-16-6y0xjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360915/original/file-20200930-16-6y0xjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">13th-century depiction of St. Thomas Aquinas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/circa-1260-italian-philosopher-theologian-and-writer-st-news-photo/51246574?adppopup=true">Rischgitz/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>While perceived wrongdoing may lead us to denounce the actions of our country’s government, such criticism is compatible with – and, indeed, necessitated by – the virtue of piety, according to <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-virtue/#CarJus">the scholastic understanding of the virtue of justice</a>.</p>
<p>What we can learn from the scholastics is that the heart of patriotism is not an unwavering commitment to the objective superiority of one’s country – rather, the heart of patriotism is love. </p>
<p>As such, we should study the shameful aspects of our nation’s past not only because it is fair and honest but also because it can can make us love our country more. In short, it can make us better patriots.</p>
<p>As the theologian and philospher <a href="https://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Gilbert_K_Chesterton/Orthodoxy/The_Flag_of_the_World_p2.html">G. K. Chesterton once quipped</a>, “Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they loved her.”</p>
<p>A modern interpretation could be that an American patriot will always love America, but he or she may not always be pro-America. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>This is an interpretation that jars most with Americans on the political right. But there is also a lesson here for some Americans on the left that criticism of one’s own country should not spill out into contempt. Hatred or indifference toward one’s country is not a virtue, in the eyes of the scholastics.</p>
<p>So someone can be a “good American patriot” who ardently loves America while also lamenting its shortcomings – both past and present. If Trump’s proposed K-12 curriculum can maintain both of these virtues, then it would be truly patriotic. But if it leads to educators who insist that students be blindly pro-American, it would merely be propaganda.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Clem does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From medieval thinkers to James Baldwin, loving one’s country has never meant you can’t be critical of it too.Stewart Clem, Assistant Professor of Moral Theology, Aquinas Institute of TheologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1450682020-08-26T14:23:58Z2020-08-26T14:23:58ZLast Night of the Proms: some suggestions for how to modernise the UK’s patriotic jamboree<p>Turn your memories back to the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/19022429">opening ceremony of the London Olympics in July 2012</a> and the entrance of the British team into the stadium. The jubilant, flag-waving athletes marched around the arena of cheering spectators to the sound of David Bowie’s Heroes – for many people the perfect anthem to reflect a modern expression of national aspiration and pride.</p>
<p>The suitability, or otherwise, of various of the songs traditionally chosen in the UK to express patriotic feelings is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/aug/25/rule-britannia-is-out-of-tune-with-the-times">currently the subject of fierce debate </a>as the last night of the annual series of Proms concerts staged by the BBC draws near.</p>
<p>It won’t be a traditional Last Night of the Proms this year. Instead, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing need for social distancing measures, the concerts are being held <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bf45f4b3-7a53-4749-8d24-9fd3d5d52f7f">without audiences and restricted numbers of musicians</a>. This, of course, makes it impossible to feature what many regard as the high point of the season – the gathering of flag-waving “promenaders” lustily singing the traditional patriotic anthems Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the recent Black Lives Matter protests and the campaigns to remove statues linked with Britain’s slave-owning past have prompted a national debate about the way the UK represents its imperial heritage.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-uk-needs-its-own-black-lives-matter-moment-to-wake-up-to-police-racism-100998">Why the UK needs its own Black Lives Matter moment to wake up to police racism</a>
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<p>The most recent manifestation of these culture wars is regarding the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/statements/last-night-of-the-proms">BBC’s decision</a> that instrumental rather than vocal-led arrangements of Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia should be performed at this year’s Last Night Of The Proms.</p>
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<p>On the one hand are those who would portray this as kow-towing to a “Maoist” <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/25/petition-rule-britannia-sung-last-night-proms-reaches-10000/">cultural revolution</a> led by a youthful vanguard of “woke” activists intent on tearing down the pillars of traditional British culture. On the other are those who believe that the realities of contemporary society would be better reflected by letting go of the trappings of <a href="https://theconversation.com/britains-monument-culture-obscures-a-violent-history-of-white-supremacy-and-colonial-violence-140370">Britain’s exploitative colonial past</a>: including these two patriotic songs.</p>
<p>So what is it about the words to these two songs that critics find problematic? The line “mother of the free” in Land of Hope and Glory is likely to ring alarm bells with those who regard British colonial domination as providing anything but freedom. Rule Britannia’s confident assertion that “Britons never, never, never shall be slaves” similarly provides fodder for its critics. </p>
<p>Are the British being oversensitive to these historic lyrical artefacts? The Germans have actively reshaped their national anthem <em>Das Lied der Deutsche</em> by dropping the first two verses that celebrate German superiority for the more politically acceptable third that extols “Unity and justice and freedom”.</p>
<p>In recent years the nationalistic element of the Last Night Of The Proms has been somewhat subverted with many of the attendees <a href="https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/last-night-of-the-proms-eu-flags-1-6270280">waving the European flag</a> rather than the traditional Union Flag. And, for many of the audience in recent years, the patriotic fervour of the Last Night of the Proms has been more ironic than passionate.</p>
<p>But this year in response to the proposed changes, a petition in favour of the status quo has <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/25/petition-rule-britannia-sung-last-night-proms-reaches-10000/">reached more than 10.000 signatories</a> in 24 hours. The BBC has also had to defend principal guest conductor from Finland, Dalia Stasevska, from what it has called “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/statements/last-night-of-the-proms">unjustified personal attacks</a>” on social media.</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/statements/last-night-of-the-proms">attempt at modernisation</a> this year’s concert will include the Liverpool anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone, along with more traditional elements such as Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem – albeit in a new arrangement by <a href="http://www.errollynwallen.com/biography#:%7E:text=Errollyn%20Wallen%20%2D%20'renaissance%20woman%20of,directly%20to%20hearts%20and%20minds.">British composer Errollyn Wallen</a>. The national anthem will also be played as usual. But this is clearly not enough to appease the sector of the audience for whom the Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia singalong is sacrosanct.</p>
<p>So what songs would be acceptable as we move forward? There are certainly some strong traditional contenders such as <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/holst-i-vow-to-thee-my-country">I Vow to Thee My Country</a> with its focus on “gentleness” and peaceful paths, or the more overtly religious <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3668058/The-story-behind-the-hymn.html">Abide With Me</a>. But would those songs from what many might regard as a distant past reflect the contemporary national identity? </p>
<p>It might be that that <a href="https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/best-protest-songs-of-all-time">the popular music canon</a>, with a better – if still imperfect – track record on social justice, might provide a fruitful resource. The Beatles’ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsxtImDVMig">All You Need Is Love</a> could prove to be unifying and uncontroversial, with plenty of scope for grand orchestral flourishes.</p>
<p>One initial problem is that it’s not straightforward to find songs that represent the whole of the UK. For instance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/jerusalem-a-history-of-englands-hymn-55668">the perennial Proms favourite, Jerusalem</a>, has long been widely regarded as being <a href="https://www.classicfm.com/composers/parry/music/hubert-parry-jerusalem/">solely about England</a>. </p>
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<p>There are songs based on UK locations such as Kate Bush’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw53DwHXf7k">Wuthering Heights</a>” which have already inspired participatory “flash-mob”-style events with hundreds donning red dresses and copying her choreography. It would be a joy to watch the promenaders – who are surely the proto-flashmobbers – belting out “Heathcliff, It’s me, I’m Cathy, I’ve come home” while recreating the pop star’s expressive dance routine in perfect synchronisation. </p>
<p>An evocative and wonderfully orchestrated medley of river-related songs might be a more genteel way to unite the country. Consider <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZX0h4X7s1c">The Song of the Clyde</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVuYd_uzGYA">Fog on the Tyne</a> by Lindisfarne, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08083BNaYcA">Ferry Cross the Mersey</a> by Gerry and the Pacemakers, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_MqfF0WBsU">Waterloo Sunset</a> by The Kinks and Jimmy Cliff’s beautifully plangent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF3IktTk_pQ">Many Rivers To Cross</a>, which offers a take on the immigrant experience as a tribute to the Windrush generation.</p>
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<p>The BBC has an almost impossible task in trying to please both the traditionalists and the reformers – and it may be that its graduated approach has some merits. But culture always moves on and pillars that seemed secure can be swiftly abandoned as relics of a previous and discredited era when change comes swiftly as it is surely doing now.</p>
<p>In light of recent political events the Sex Pistol’s punk anthem <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbmWs6Jf5dc">Anarchy in the UK</a> might be seen as both more apposite and unifying by those of an uncharitable and less devolved mindset.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian York is affiliated with The Labour Party</span></em></p>If Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory are out of step with the times, perhaps some sensitively chosen pop songs could fit the bill instead.Adrian York, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Music Performance, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1416872020-07-13T11:53:58Z2020-07-13T11:53:58ZMask resistance during a pandemic isn’t new – in 1918 many Americans were ‘slackers’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345886/original/file-20200706-3943-5gsic4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Policemen in Seattle, Washington, wearing masks made by the Red Cross, during the influenza pandemic, December 1918</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/45499339">National Archives</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We have all seen the alarming headlines: Coronavirus cases are <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/coronavirus-cases-are-rising-in-40-of-50-u-s-states">surging in 40 states</a>, with new cases and hospitalization rates climbing at an alarming rate. Health officials have warned that the U.S. must act quickly to halt the spread – or we risk losing control over the pandemic. </p>
<p>There’s a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fprevent-getting-sick%2Fcloth-face-cover.html">clear consensus</a> that Americans should wear masks in public and continue to practice proper social distancing. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/23/most-americans-say-they-regularly-wore-a-mask-in-stores-in-the-past-month-fewer-see-others-doing-it/">While a majority of Americans</a> support wearing masks, widespread and consistent compliance has proven difficult to maintain in communities across the country. Demonstrators gathered outside city halls in <a href="https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/anti-mask-rally-to-protest-mask-mandate-held-in-scottsdale/75-94cd29b2-9630-457d-8116-a6a6d32af281">Scottsdale, Arizona</a>; <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20200628/alex-jones-leads-anti-mask-protest-at-capitol">Austin, Texas</a>; and other cities to protest local mask mandates. Several <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/26/sheriffs-mask-covid/">Washington state and North Carolina sheriffs have announced they will not enforce their state’s mask order</a>.</p>
<p>I’ve <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/38950136_J_Alexander_Navarro">researched</a> the <a href="http://www.influenzaarchive.org/about.html">history of the 1918 pandemic</a> extensively. At that time, with no effective vaccine or drug therapies, communities across the country instituted a host of public health measures to slow the spread of a deadly influenza epidemic: They closed schools and businesses, banned public gatherings and isolated and quarantined those who were infected. Many communities recommended or required that citizens wear face masks in public – and this, not the onerous lockdowns, drew the most ire.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345895/original/file-20200706-3980-1euqqs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345895/original/file-20200706-3980-1euqqs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345895/original/file-20200706-3980-1euqqs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345895/original/file-20200706-3980-1euqqs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345895/original/file-20200706-3980-1euqqs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345895/original/file-20200706-3980-1euqqs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345895/original/file-20200706-3980-1euqqs7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Officials wearing gauze masks inspect Chicago street cleaners for the flu, 1918.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chicago-illinois-inspecting-chicago-street-cleaners-for-news-photo/514910726">Bettman/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In mid-October of 1918, amidst a raging epidemic in the Northeast and rapidly growing outbreaks nationwide, the <a href="https://www.usphs.gov/">United States Public Health Service</a> circulated leaflets recommending that all citizens wear a mask. The Red Cross took out newspaper ads encouraging their use and offered instructions on how to construct masks at home using gauze and cotton string. Some state health departments launched their own initiatives, most notably California, Utah and Washington.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Nationwide, posters presented mask-wearing as a civic duty – social responsibility had been embedded into the social fabric by a massive wartime federal propaganda campaign launched in early 1917 when the U.S. entered the Great War. San Francisco <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/1620flu.0009.261/1/--proclamation-of-mayor-asks-masks-for-all?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=conscience%2C+patriotism+and+self-protection+demand+immediate+and+rigid+compliance">Mayor James Rolph announced</a> that “conscience, patriotism and self-protection demand immediate and rigid compliance” with mask wearing. In nearby Oakland, <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/8540flu.0007.458/1/--wear-mask-says-law-or-face-arrest?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=Face+Arrest">Mayor John Davie stated</a> that “it is sensible and patriotic, no matter what our personal beliefs may be, to safeguard our fellow citizens by joining in this practice” of wearing a mask.</p>
<p>Health officials understood that radically changing public behavior was a difficult undertaking, especially since many found masks uncomfortable to wear. Appeals to patriotism could go only so far. As one Sacramento official noted, people “must be forced to do the things that are for their best interests.” The Red Cross <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/1440flu.0007.441/1/--wear-a-mask-and-save-your-life?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=wear+a+mask">bluntly stated</a> that “the man or woman or child who will not wear a mask now is a dangerous slacker.” Numerous communities, particularly across the West, imposed mandatory ordinances. Some sentenced scofflaws to short jail terms, and fines ranged from US$5 to $200. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345891/original/file-20200706-4000-1ruwuu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345891/original/file-20200706-4000-1ruwuu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345891/original/file-20200706-4000-1ruwuu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345891/original/file-20200706-4000-1ruwuu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345891/original/file-20200706-4000-1ruwuu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345891/original/file-20200706-4000-1ruwuu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345891/original/file-20200706-4000-1ruwuu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Collage of newspaper headlines related to the previous year’s influenza pandemic, Chicago, Illinois, 1919. Headlines include ‘Police Raid Saloons in War on Influenza,’ ‘Flu Curfew to Sound for City Saturday Night’ and ‘Open-Face Sneezers to Be Arrested.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/collage-of-various-newspaper-headlines-related-to-the-news-photo/1219167361">Chicago History Museum/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Passing these ordinances was frequently a contentious affair. For example, it took several attempts for Sacramento’s health officer to convince city officials to enact the order. In Los Angeles, it was scuttled. A draft resolution in Portland, Oregon led to heated city council debate, with <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/2510flu.0008.152/1/--decline-in-flu-cases-expected?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=Decline+in+Flu+Cases+Expected">one official declaring</a> the measure “autocratic and unconstitutional,” adding that “under no circumstances will I be muzzled like a hydrophobic dog.” It was voted down. </p>
<p>Utah’s board of health considered issuing a mandatory statewide mask order but decided against it, <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/9830flu.0009.389/1/--dr-beatty-makes-plain-his-position-on-mask-question?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=makes+plain+his">arguing</a> that citizens would take false security in the effectiveness of masks and relax their vigilance. As the epidemic resurged, Oakland tabled its debate over a second mask order after the mayor angrily recounted his arrest in Sacramento for not wearing a mask. A <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/3360flu.0007.633/1/--flu-masking-ordinance-is-turned-down?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=Flu+Masking+Ordinance+is+Turned+Down">prominent physician in attendance commented</a> that “if a cave man should appear…he would think the masked citizens all lunatics.”</p>
<p>In places where mask orders were successfully implemented, noncompliance and outright defiance quickly became a problem. Many businesses, unwilling to turn away shoppers, wouldn’t bar unmasked customers from their stores. Workers complained that masks were too uncomfortable to wear all day. One Denver salesperson refused because she said her “nose went to sleep” every time she put one on. <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/6190flu.0003.916/1/--masks-not-popular-many-people-ignore-health-board-rules?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=many+people+ignore">Another said</a> she believed that “an authority higher than the Denver Department of Health was looking after her well-being.” As <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/2290flu.0003.922/3/--new-orders-are-issued?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=200;view=image;q1=New+Orders+are+issued">one local newspaper put it</a>, the order to wear masks “was almost totally ignored by the people; in fact, the order was cause of mirth.” The rule was amended to apply only to streetcar conductors – who then threatened to strike. A walkout was averted when the city watered down the order yet again. Denver endured the remainder of the epidemic without any measures protecting public health.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345897/original/file-20200706-4008-zh4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345897/original/file-20200706-4008-zh4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345897/original/file-20200706-4008-zh4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345897/original/file-20200706-4008-zh4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345897/original/file-20200706-4008-zh4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1034&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345897/original/file-20200706-4008-zh4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1034&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345897/original/file-20200706-4008-zh4ckj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1034&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Precautions taken during the 1918 flu pandemic would not allow anyone to ride street cars without a mask. Here, a conductor bars an unmasked passenger from boarding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/precautions-taken-during-spanish-influenza-epidemic-would-news-photo/1223011380">Universal History Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In Seattle, streetcar conductors refused to turn away unmasked passengers. Noncompliance was so widespread in Oakland that officials deputized 300 War Service civilian volunteers to secure the names and addresses of violators so they could be charged. When a mask order went into effect in Sacramento, the police chief instructed officers to “Go out on the streets, and whenever you see a man without a mask, bring him in or send for the wagon.” Within 20 minutes, police stations were flooded with offenders. In San Francisco, there were so many arrests that the police chief warned city officials he was running out of jail cells. Judges and officers were forced to work late nights and weekends to clear the backlog of cases.</p>
<p>Many who were caught without masks thought they might get away with running an errand or commuting to work without being nabbed. In San Francisco, however, initial noncompliance turned to large-scale defiance when the city enacted a second mask ordinance in January 1919 as the epidemic spiked anew. Many decried what they viewed as an unconstitutional infringement of their civil liberties. On January 25, 1919, approximately 2,000 members of the “Anti-Mask League” <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/flu/1320flu.0009.231/1/--new-cases-of-influenza-at-low-record?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=150;view=image;q1=New+Cases+of+Influenza+at+Low+Record">packed the city’s old Dreamland Rink</a> for a rally denouncing the mask ordinance and proposing ways to defeat it. Attendees included several prominent physicians and a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346412/original/file-20200708-3978-bycckm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346412/original/file-20200708-3978-bycckm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346412/original/file-20200708-3978-bycckm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346412/original/file-20200708-3978-bycckm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346412/original/file-20200708-3978-bycckm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346412/original/file-20200708-3978-bycckm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346412/original/file-20200708-3978-bycckm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346412/original/file-20200708-3978-bycckm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Poster of a Red Cross nurse wearing a gauze mask over her nose and mouth – with tips to prevent the influenza pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101580385-img">The National Library of Medicine/NIH</a></span>
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<p>It is difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of the masks used in 1918. Today, we have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0843-2">growing body of evidence</a> that well-constructed cloth face coverings are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818">an effective tool</a> in slowing the spread of COVID-19. It remains to be seen, however, whether Americans will maintain the widespread use of face masks as our current pandemic continues to unfold. Deeply entrenched ideals of individual freedom, the lack of cohesive messaging and leadership on mask wearing, and pervasive misinformation have proven to be major hindrances thus far, precisely when the crisis demands consensus and widespread compliance. This was certainly the case in many communities during the fall of 1918. That pandemic ultimately <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html">killed about 675,000 people in the U.S</a>. Hopefully, history is not in the process of repeating itself today.</p>
<p><em>This article was updated to correct the location of sheriffs mentioned.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141687/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine received funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a portion of its research on the 1918 influenza pandemic. J. Alexander Navarro was a member of that team of researchers.</span></em></p>As the US battled the 1918 influenza pandemic, some communities staged contentious battles against wearing masks. Sound familiar?J. Alexander Navarro, Assistant Director, Center for the History of Medicine, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1415072020-06-29T17:43:46Z2020-06-29T17:43:46ZNational parks – even Mount Rushmore – show that there’s more than one kind of patriotism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344373/original/file-20200627-104504-1ss62jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C0%2C5760%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To some Americans, the figures on Mount Rushmore are patriotic leaders; to others, they're colonizers. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mount-Rushmore-Trump/79b3bb83d4814155b2a7487891eeb618/1/0">AP Photo/Stephen Groves</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>July 4th was quieter than usual this year, thanks to COVID-19. Many U.S. cities canceled fireworks displays to avoid drawing large crowds that could promote the spread of coronavirus. </p>
<p>But President Trump spoke at a celebration at <a href="https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm">Mount Rushmore National Memorial</a> in South Dakota on July 3. It’s easy to see why an Independence Day event at a national memorial featuring the carved faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt would seem like a straightforward patriotic statement. </p>
<p>But there was controversy. Trump’s visit was capped by fireworks for the first time in a decade, notwithstanding worries that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/06/24/trump-mount-rushmore-fireworks/">pyrotechnics could ignite wildfires</a>. Protesters – mainly Native Americans – <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/native-americans-blocked-road-to-mount-rushmore-before-trump-speech-2020-7">blocked the road</a> to Mount Rushmore before Trump’s arrival, a reminder that critics view this memorial and many others around the world as commemorating a history of racism, slavery and genocide and reinforcing white supremacy. </p>
<p>As I show in my book, “<a href="http://www.unevadapress.com/books/?isbn=9781943859962">Memorials Matter: Emotion, Environment, and Public Memory at American Historical Sites</a>,” many venerated historical sites tell complicated stories. Even Mount Rushmore, which was designed explicitly to evoke national pride, can be a source of anger or shame rather than patriotic feeling. </p>
<p>Twenty-first-century patriotism is a touchy subject, increasingly claimed by America’s conservative right. National Park Service sites like Mount Rushmore are public lands, meant to be appreciated by everyone, but they raise crucial questions about history, unity and love of country, especially during this election year. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344408/original/file-20200628-104499-63zzvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344408/original/file-20200628-104499-63zzvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344408/original/file-20200628-104499-63zzvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344408/original/file-20200628-104499-63zzvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344408/original/file-20200628-104499-63zzvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344408/original/file-20200628-104499-63zzvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344408/original/file-20200628-104499-63zzvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344408/original/file-20200628-104499-63zzvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mount Rushmore, originally known to the Lakota Sioux as Six Grandfathers, c. 1905, before construction of the memorial. Native Americans still dispute U.S. control over the area, based on the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which granted the Black Hills to the Lakota people in perpetuity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Six_Grandfathers.jpg">NPS/Wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For me, and I suspect for many tourists, national memorials and monuments elicit conflicting feelings. There’s pride in our nation’s achievements, but also guilt, regret or anger over the costs of progress and the injustices that still exist. Patriotism, especially at sites of shame, can be unsettling – and I see this as a good thing. In my view, honestly confronting the darker parts of U.S. history as well as its best moments is vital for tourism, for patriotism and for the nation. </p>
<h2>Whose history?</h2>
<p>Patriotism has roots in the Latin “<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/patriot">patriotia,” meaning “fellow countryman</a>.” It’s common to feel patriotic pride in U.S. technological achievements or military strength. But Americans also glory in the diversity and beauty of our <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203521694">natural landscapes</a>. That kind of patriotism, I think, has the potential to be more inclusive, less divisive and more socially and environmentally just. </p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=experts">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p>
<p>The physical environment at national memorials can inspire more than one kind of patriotism. At Mount Rushmore, tourists are invited to walk the Avenue of Flags, marvel at the labor required to carve four U.S. presidents’ faces out of granite, and applaud when rangers invite military veterans onstage during visitor programs. Patriotism centers on labor, progress and the “great men” the memorial credits with founding, expanding, preserving and unifying the U.S. </p>
<p>But there are other perspectives. Viewed from the <a href="http://www.ohranger.com/peter-norbeck-scenic-byway">Peter Norbeck Overlook</a>, a short drive from the main site, the presidents’ faces are tiny elements embedded in the expansive Black Hills region. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281050/original/file-20190624-97808-10m58n2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281050/original/file-20190624-97808-10m58n2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281050/original/file-20190624-97808-10m58n2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281050/original/file-20190624-97808-10m58n2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281050/original/file-20190624-97808-10m58n2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281050/original/file-20190624-97808-10m58n2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281050/original/file-20190624-97808-10m58n2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281050/original/file-20190624-97808-10m58n2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, viewed from the Peter Norbeck Overlook.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jennifer Ladino</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Re-seeing the memorial in space and contextualizing it within a longer time scale can spark new emotions. The Black Hills are a <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/we-walk-our-ancestors-sacredness-black-hills">sacred place for Lakota peoples</a> that they never willingly relinquished. Viewing Mount Rushmore this way puts those rock faces in a broader ecological, historical and colonial context, and raises questions about history and justice. </p>
<h2>Sites of shame</h2>
<p>Sites where visitors are meant to feel remorse challenge patriotism more directly. At <a href="https://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm">Manzanar National Historic Site</a> in California – one of 10 camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II – natural and textual cues prevent any easy patriotic reflexes. </p>
<p>Reconstructed guard towers and barracks help visitors perceive the experience of being detained. I could imagine Japanese Americans’ shame as I entered claustrophobic buildings and touched the rough straw that filled makeshift mattresses. Many visitors doubtlessly associate mountains with adventure and freedom, but some incarcerees saw the nearby Sierra Nevada as <a href="https://hmhbooks.com/shop/books/Farewell-to-Manzanar/9781328742117">barricades reinforcing the camp’s barbed wire fence</a>. </p>
<p>Rangers play up these emotional tensions on their tours. I saw one ranger position a group of schoolchildren atop what were once latrines, and ask them: “Will it happen again? We don’t know. We hope not. We have to stand up for what is right.” Instead of offering visitors a self-congratulatory sense of being a good citizen, Manzanar leaves them with unsettling questions and mixed feelings. </p>
<p>Visitors to incarceration camps today might make connections to the U.S.-Mexico border, where <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-long-bipartisan-history-of-dealing-with-immigrants-harshly-119523">detention centers</a> corral people in unhealthy conditions, sometimes <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/children-released-from-immigration-detention-centers/index.html">separating children from parents</a>. Sites like Manzanar ask us to rethink who “counts” as an American and what unites us as human beings. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XkeXCQkro_c?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dr. Masako Miura remembers her experience as a detainee at Manzanar Relocation Camp, where she was one of the few physicians.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Visiting and writing about these and other sites made me consider what it would take to disassociate patriotism from “America first”-style nationalism and recast it as collective pride in the United States’ diverse landscapes and peoples. Building a more inclusive patriotism means celebrating freedom in all forms – such as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/19/879647898/calls-to-make-juneteenth-a-federal-holiday-gain-momentum">making Juneteenth a federal holiday</a> – and commemorating the tragedies of our past in ways that promote justice in the present. </p>
<h2>Humble patriotism</h2>
<p>This July 4th invites contemplation of what holds us together as a nation during a time of reckoning. I believe Americans should be willing to imagine how a public memorial could be offensive or traumatic. The National Park Service website claims that Mount Rushmore preserves a “<a href="https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm">rich heritage we all share</a>,” but what happens when that heritage feels like hatred to some people? </p>
<p>Growing momentum for removing statues of <a href="https://theconversation.com/dead-white-men-get-their-say-in-court-as-virginia-tries-to-remove-robert-e-lee-statues-140813">Confederate generals</a> and <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/statues-toppled-throughout-us-in-protests-against-racism-2020-06-20">other historical figures now understood to be racist</a>, including the statue of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/us/new-york-theodore-roosevelt-statue-removal-trnd/index.html">Theodore Roosevelt</a> in the front of New York City’s Museum of Natural History, tests the limits of national coherence. Understanding this momentum is not an issue of political correctness – it’s a matter of compassion.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1276229911997558786"}"></div></p>
<p>Greater clarity about value systems could help unite Americans across party lines. Psychologists have found striking differences between the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1137651">moral frameworks</a> that shape liberals’ and conservatives’ views. Conservatives generally prioritize purity, sanctity and loyalty, while liberals tend to value justice in the form of concerns about fairness and harm. In my view, patriotism could function as an emotional bridge between these moral foundations. </p>
<p>My research suggests that visits to memorial sites are helpful for recognizing our interdependence with each other, as inhabitants of a common country. Places like Mount Rushmore are part of our collective past that raise important questions about what unites us today. I believe it’s our responsibility to approach these places, and each other, with both pride and humility. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/visiting-national-parks-could-change-your-thinking-about-patriotism-115350">June 26, 2019</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Ladino received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support her book on national memorials.</span></em></p>For some viewers, President Trump’s July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore represented love of country. Others saw it very differently.Jennifer Ladino, Professor of English, University of IdahoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1357932020-04-08T12:12:10Z2020-04-08T12:12:10ZThe long history of US racism against Asian Americans, from ‘yellow peril’ to ‘model minority’ to the ‘Chinese virus’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326240/original/file-20200407-44994-11g20dl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Massachusetts Asian American Commission protest on the steps of the Statehouse in Boston.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Steven Senne</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a recent <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/01/andrew-yang-coronavirus-discrimination/">Washington Post op-ed</a>, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang called upon Asian Americans to become part of the solution against COVID-19.</p>
<p>In the face of rising anti-Asian racist actions – now at about <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/490373-attacks-on-asian-americans-at-about-100-per-day-due-to">100 reported cases per day</a> – Yang implores Asian Americans to “wear red, white, and blue” in their efforts to combat the virus. </p>
<p>Optimistically, before Donald Trump declared COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus,” Yang believed that “getting the virus under control” would rid this country of its anti-Asian racism. But Asian American history, <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/ase/faculty_display.cfm?person_id=1091464">my field of research</a>, suggests a sobering reality. </p>
<h2>A history of anti-Asian racism</h2>
<p>Up until the eve of the COVID-19 crisis, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/28/being-a-good-quiet-and-assimilated-model-minority-is-making-me-angry">prevailing narrative</a> about Asian Americans was one of the model minority. </p>
<p>The model minority concept, developed during and after World War II, posits that Asian Americans were the ideal immigrants of color to the United States due to their economic success. </p>
<p>But in the United States, Asian Americans have long been considered as a threat to a nation that promoted a whites-only immigration policy. They were called a “yellow peril”: <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-is-born-a-us-citizen-127403">unclean and unfit for citizenship in America</a>.</p>
<p>In the late 19th century, white nativists spread xenophobic propaganda about Chinese uncleanliness in San Francisco. This fueled the passage of the infamous <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-03/coronavirus-outbreak-narrative-xenophobia">Chinese Exclusion Act</a>, the first law in the United States that barred immigration solely based on race. Initially, the act placed a 10-year moratorium on all Chinese migration. </p>
<p>In the early 20th century, American officials in the Philippines, then a formal colony of the U.S., denigrated <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/colonial-pathologies">Filipinos for their supposedly unclean and uncivilized bodies</a>. Colonial officers and doctors identified two enemies: Filipino insurgents against American rule, and “tropical diseases” festering in native bodies. By pointing to Filipinos’ political and medical unruliness, these officials justified continued U.S. colonial rule in the islands.</p>
<p>On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-signs-executive-order-9066">Executive Order 9066</a> to incarcerate people under suspicion as enemies to inland internment camps. </p>
<p>While the order also affected German- and Italian-Americans on the East Coast, the vast majority of those incarcerated in 1942 were of Japanese descent. Many of them were naturalized citizens, second- and third-generation Americans. Internees who fought in the celebrated 442nd Regiment were coerced by the United States military to prove their loyalty to a country that locked them up simply for being Japanese.</p>
<p>In the 21st century, even the most “multicultural” North American cities, like my hometown of Toronto, Canada, are hotbeds for virulent racism. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, Toronto saw a rise of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/02/04/2003-sars-outbreak-fueled-anti-asian-racism-this-pandemic-doesnt-have/">anti-Asian racism</a>, much like that of today. </p>
<p>In her 2008 study, sociologist Carrianne Leung highlights <a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A195680111/AONE?u=aikentcl&sid=AONE&xid=65126ad5">the everyday racism against Chinese and Filipina health care workers</a> in the years that followed the SARS crisis. While publicly celebrated for their work in hospitals and other health facilities, these women found themselves fearing for their lives on their way home.</p>
<p>No expression of patriotism – not even being front-line workers in a pandemic – makes Asian migrants immune to <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/asian-american-racism-coronavirus_l_5e790a71c5b63c3b64954eb4">racism</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A general view of the Japanese internment camp at Tanforan, Calif.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/WWII-US-Japanese-Internment/aa129946475f4ddab918e7b7b5e6b5f2/18/0">AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Making the model minority</h2>
<p>Over the past decade, from <a href="https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/viet-thanh-nguyen">Pulitzer Prizes</a> to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3104988/">popular films</a>, Asian Americans have slowly been gaining <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/01/19/797721961/asian-americans-in-hollywood">better representation</a> in Hollywood and other cultural industries. </p>
<p>Whereas “The Joy Luck Club” had long been the most infamous depiction of Asian-ness in Hollywood, by the 2018 Golden Globes, Sandra Oh declared her now famous adage: <a href="https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/xwjbw7/why-sandra-ohs-speech-at-the-golden-globes-meant-so-much-to-me">“It’s an honor just to be Asian.”</a> It was, at least at face value, a moment of cultural inclusion. </p>
<p>However, so-called Asian American inclusion has a dark side. </p>
<p>In reality, as <a href="http://tupress.temple.edu/book/3393">cultural historian Robert G. Lee has argued</a>, inclusion can and has been used to undermine the activism of African Americans, indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups in the United States. In the words of writer Frank Chin in 1974, <a href="https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295746487/aiiieeeee/">“Whites love us because we’re not black.”</a></p>
<p>For example, in 1943, a year after the United States incarcerated Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066, Congress repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. White liberals advocated for the repeal not out of altruism toward Chinese migrants, but to advocate for a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0123-wu-chua-model-minority-chinese-20140123-story.html">transpacific alliance against Japan and the Axis powers</a>. </p>
<p>By allowing for the free passage of Chinese migrants to the United States, the nation could show its supposed fitness as an interracial superpower that rivaled Japan and Germany. Meanwhile, incarcerated Japanese Americans in camps and African Americans were still held under Jim Crow segregation laws.</p>
<p>In her new book, “<a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469653365/opening-the-gates-to-asia/">Opening the Gates to Asia: A Transpacific History of How America Repealed Asian Exclusion</a>,” Occidental College historian Jane Hong reveals how the United States government used Asian immigration inclusion against other minority groups at a time of social upheaval. </p>
<p>For example, in 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration signed the much-celebrated <a href="https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/Immigration-and-Nationality-Act-of-1965/">Hart-Celler Act</a> into law. The act primarily targeted Asian and African migrants, shifting immigration from an exclusionary quota system to an merit-based points system. However, it also imposed immigration restrictions on Latin America. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326245/original/file-20200407-33428-y6j2oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326245/original/file-20200407-33428-y6j2oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326245/original/file-20200407-33428-y6j2oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326245/original/file-20200407-33428-y6j2oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326245/original/file-20200407-33428-y6j2oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326245/original/file-20200407-33428-y6j2oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326245/original/file-20200407-33428-y6j2oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326245/original/file-20200407-33428-y6j2oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sign at the 2020 Lunar New Year Parade in Manhattan’s Chinatown.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Beyond model minority politics</h2>
<p>As history shows, Asian American communities stand to gain more working within communities and across the lines of race, rather than trying to appeal to those in power. </p>
<p>Japanese American activists such as the late <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/02/318072652/japanese-american-activist-and-malcolm-x-ally-dies-at-93">Yuri Kochiyama</a> worked in solidarity with other communities of color to advance the civil rights movement. </p>
<p>A former internee at the Jerome Relocation Center in Arkansas, Kochiyama’s postwar life in Harlem, and her friendship with Malcolm X, inspired her to become active in the anti-Vietnam War and civil rights movements. In the 1980s, she and her husband Bill, himself part of the 442nd Regiment, worked at the forefront of the reparations and apology movement for Japanese internees. As a result of their efforts, <a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/japanese-americans-fight-for-post-internment-reparations-offers-a-blueprint-for-fighting-inequality-in-the-trump-era">Ronald Reagan signed the resulting Civil Liberties Act into law in 1988</a>.</p>
<p>Kochiyama and activists like her have inspired the cross-community work of Asian American communities after them. </p>
<p>In Los Angeles, where I live, the Little Tokyo Service Center is among those at the forefront of grassroots <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/453166/artists-are-addressing-the-tide-of-gentrification-in-las-little-tokyo/">organizing for affordable housing and social services in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood</a>. While the organization’s priority area is Little Tokyo and its community members, the center’s work advocates for affordable housing among black and Latinx residents, as well as Japanese American and other Asian American groups. </p>
<p>To the northwest in Koreatown, the grassroots organization Ktown for All conducts outreach to unhoused residents of the neighborhood, regardless of ethnic background.</p>
<p>The coronavirus sees no borders. Likewise, I think that everyone must follow the example of these organizations and activists, past and present, to reach across borders and contribute to collective well-being. </p>
<p>Self-isolation, social distancing and healthy practices should not be in the service of proving one’s patriotism. Instead, these precautions should be done for the sake of caring for those whom we do and do not know, inside and outside our national communities.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian De Leon receives funding from the Fulbright Commission and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>How should Asian Americans respond to rising anti-Asian racist actions? History may offer some lessons during the pandemic.Adrian De Leon, Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1265512019-12-09T13:42:53Z2019-12-09T13:42:53ZWhy are kids today less patriotic?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305041/original/file-20191203-67011-6xrc7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young Americans today are more likely to say that they're dissatisfied with the current state of affairs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-happy-teen-students-holding-usa-1160956780?src=eaa2f6fe-2767-4b4f-bb4a-1ef4646c2f9d-2-21">LightField Studios/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why are younger people not really patriotic like me? Why do kids these days not realize why they stand for the flag or the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem? – Kim D., age 17, Goochland, Virginia</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>The first bell of the day rings at a local school, and a voice blares over the intercom, asking students to rise from their seats and say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. </p>
<p>This is a familiar practice to students across the United States, since most states currently <a href="https://undergod.procon.org/view.additional-resource.php?resourceID=000074">require schools</a> to recite the pledge at the beginning of each day. And yet, some students opt out of the ritual, choosing instead to remain seated, or stand but stay silent. </p>
<p>Are these students less patriotic than those who stand willingly and proudly to recite the pledge? As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3KQghq8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">someone who studies</a> how young people engage with politics, I think the answer may be a bit more complex than you think.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.people-press.org/2011/11/03/section-4-views-of-the-nation/">Some studies</a> suggest that the answer is yes, that young people tend to view the country more negatively than older generations, or that younger generations tend to be less proud of the United States. </p>
<p>These studies often ask young people how satisfied they are with where the country is or where it is going. Younger generations – millennials, born between 1981 and 1996; and Generation Z, those born after 1996 – tend to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/upshot/younger-americans-are-less-patriotic-at-least-in-some-ways.html">less satisfied</a> with the current state of affairs and less proud to be American.</p>
<p><iframe id="UzV9F" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/UzV9F/1/" height="500px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>However, this dissatisfaction or lack of pride does not necessarily mean that young people are less patriotic; instead, it may point to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-have-shifted-dramatically-on-what-values-matter-most-11566738001">a shift in what matters</a> to young people and what they perceive as patriotism. </p>
<p>For example, a Market Research Foundation survey found that <a href="http://dailytorch.com/2019/08/no-generation-z-is-not-less-patriotic-or-religious/">younger generations still care</a> about the well-being of the United States and policies related to the country’s stability, even though they may not associate it with patriotism. </p>
<p>And a Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement study shows that young voters are <a href="https://civicyouth.org/growing-voters-engaging-youth-before-they-reach-voting-age-to-strengthen-democracy/">showing up more for midterm elections</a>, which suggests that they care more about the future of the country than young generations of the past. </p>
<p>Furthermore, they seem to be <a href="https://civicyouth.org/circle-poll-youth-engagement-in-the-2018-election/">more engaged with politics</a> now than in the recent past, even if they are less committed to particular political parties.</p>
<p>When it comes to the flag as a symbol, a public opinion poll conducted by the Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness suggests that young people see the flag less as a symbol to be proud of and more as <a href="https://www.flagusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FLAG-Patriotism-Report-11.13.2018.pdf">a symbol of what is wrong</a> with the country. If more students are associating the flag with flaws in the system, it would explain why some students opt out of standing for the pledge of allegiance or other celebratory acts. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2016.1220877">My own work</a> on a project-based high school government course shows that school coursework can help students figure out how to engage with democracy in ways that make sense to them. This means that, even as students report feeling less patriotic about the current system, they are engaging with it in an effort to change it for the better.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Climate activists participate in a student-led climate change march in Los Angeles on Nov. 1, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Greta-Thunberg-Youth-Protest/9d96b7216f2f4eff9e144fc0894cdc85/168/0">AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the end, it’s too simplistic to say that young people who are dissatisfied with the U.S. at present aren’t patriotic. It’s likely that the very students who are refusing to stand for the pledge are exhibiting their patriotism by demanding a better tomorrow, as was seen in the student <a href="https://www.tjsl.edu/sites/default/files/files/Student%20Protests,%20Then%20and%20Now%20-%20The%20Chronicle%20of%20Higher%20Education.pdf">protest movements of the 1960s</a> and other current <a href="http://neatoday.org/2019/09/19/the-greta-effect-student-activism-climate-change/">student-led protests</a>. </p>
<p>This might provide all Americans with some hope, since it means young people actually care about the future state of affairs. It may also signal it is time to work together to build a country that we can all celebrate. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126551/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Lo has received funding from the Spencer Foundation. She also serves as a member of the board of Generation Citizen. </span></em></p>A teen asks why so many young people don’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem. The data shows that young Americans today do view the U.S. more negatively than older generations.Jane Lo, Assistant Professor of Education, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1128292019-03-27T10:32:04Z2019-03-27T10:32:04ZSupreme Court to rule on use of religious symbols in war memorials<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264929/original/file-20190320-93054-ohk0iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 40-foot Peace Cross dedicated to World War I soldiers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Supreme-Court-Cross-Memorial/996edfb9bc6a40b9a088015d581e78d5/16/0">AP Photo/Kevin Wolf</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a case regarding the constitutional validity of a war memorial in Maryland in the shape of a Christian cross. The memorial is known as the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/18-18.html">Bladensburg Peace Cross</a> and stands on government property. At issue in the case is a 40-foot cross erected as a memorial for those who died in service during World War I. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case later this summer.</p>
<p>Constitutional law scholar <a href="http://law.ubalt.edu/faculty/profiles/epps.cfm">Garrett Epps</a> <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/aha-v-american-legion-maryland-peace-cross-stake/583024/">notes</a> that the result from this case “may help resolve disputes over local memorials around the country.” It might also tell us something about the approach of a new conservative Supreme Court. </p>
<p>While the case underscores the ongoing conflict over the place of religion in American public life, as a <a href="https://jepson.richmond.edu/faculty/bios/cwalker3/">scholar who studies this area</a>, I believe there is more to understand here. This is not the first such conflict. In a diverse society, these symbols can have meanings that go beyond religion.</p>
<h2>History of the memorial</h2>
<p>To highlight these different meanings, let’s consider the history of the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/md1993/">Bladensburg Peace Cross</a>. </p>
<p>The memorial sits on public land, at the center of a busy intersection in Prince George’s County, in Maryland. </p>
<p>In 1919, a local group of citizens including 10 mothers who lost their sons in World War I formed the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1717/76528/20181217160935389_17-1717%20ts.pdf">Prince George’s County Memorial Committee</a>. Together with the Good Roads League of Prince George’s County, they launched an effort to memorialize those who died in service during the war. In 1922, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1717/76528/20181217160935389_17-1717%20ts.pdf">American Legion Post 3</a> volunteered to join the effort to build the memorial. </p>
<p>The memorial effort set out to dedicate the highway between Bladensburg to Annapolis as the “National Defense Highway.” It also decided that a memorial cross be included at the beginning of the highway. The intent behind the design was to invoke “<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1717/76528/20181217160935389_17-1717%20ts.pdf">patriotism and loyalty to the nation</a>” as well as, in the words of treasurer of the Memorial Committee, to serve as a “<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1717/76528/20181217160935389_17-1717%20ts.pdf">grave stone</a>” for her son. </p>
<p>Donors who supported this the initiative signed a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1717/76528/20181217160935389_17-1717%20ts.pdf">pledge</a> which stated,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We, the citizens of Maryland, trusting in God, the Supreme ruler of the universe, pledge faith in our brothers who gave their all in the world war to make the world safe for democracy. Their mortal bodies have turned to dust, but their spirit lives to guide us through life in the way of godliness, justice and liberty. With our motto, ‘One God, One Country and one Flag,’ we contribute to this memorial cross commemorating the memory of those who have not died in vain.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The memorial was dedicated on July 12, 1925. A plaque on the memorial is inscribed with the names of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/maryland-peace-cross/">49 soldiers</a> from Prince George’s County who died in the war.</p>
<p>In 2014, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1717/76528/20181217160935389_17-1717%20ts.pdf">three citizens</a> filed a suit in the District Court of Maryland claiming that the display of a massive Christian cross on public property was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.</p>
<p>In 2017, the case went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Virginia. In a ruling, the <a href="http://legalnews.com/detroit/1466317">judges said</a> that the cross “has the primary effect of endorsing religion and excessively entangles government in religion.” </p>
<h2>Mount Soledad Cross case</h2>
<p>This wasn’t the first war memorial in the shape of a cross that was legally challenged. For over a quarter century, the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/la-me-cross-20160908-snap-story.html">Mount Soledad cross in La Jolla</a>, California, was subject to litigation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264930/original/file-20190320-93044-1jpht2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264930/original/file-20190320-93044-1jpht2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264930/original/file-20190320-93044-1jpht2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264930/original/file-20190320-93044-1jpht2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264930/original/file-20190320-93044-1jpht2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264930/original/file-20190320-93044-1jpht2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264930/original/file-20190320-93044-1jpht2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mount Soledad Memorial in San Diego.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-California-Unite-/e59374a1e1e6da11af9f0014c2589dfb/27/0">AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Mount Soledad cross is a 43-foot cross which was once on publicly owned land. In 1989, a Vietnam War veteran filed suit against the city of San Diego in U.S. District Court over the presence of a religious symbol on public property. In 1991, the court ruled the cross was “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/la-me-cross-20160908-snap-story.html">unconstitutional and had to be moved off public land</a>.” </p>
<p>The 1991 ruling led to a series of appeals in the federal court system that spanned decades. To end the protracted and ongoing legal drama, the Mount Soledad Memorial Association agreed to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/la-me-cross-20160908-snap-story.html">purchase the public land</a> beneath the cross.</p>
<p>As a result, in 2016, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-page ruling that ended all litigation since “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/la-me-cross-20160908-snap-story.html">the central issue – a religious symbol standing on government property – was moot</a>.” In other words, since the cross was now on private property, the issue was resolved. </p>
<p>In response to the litigation involving the Mount Soledad cross, the U.S. House of Representatives <a href="https://hunter.house.gov/press-release/house-passes-hunter-legislation-protecting-war-memorials">passed the War Memorial Protection Act in 2012</a>. Sponsored by California Rep. <a href="https://hunter.house.gov/about-me">Duncan Hunter</a>, the legislation permits the inclusion of religious symbols on official military memorials. </p>
<p>Upon passage by the House, <a href="https://hunter.house.gov/press-release/house-passes-hunter-legislation-protecting-war-memorials">Hunter stated</a>, “Across the country and beyond our shores, America’s military and veterans are proudly represented by war memorials that also display symbols of personal faith and religion.” </p>
<p>Though not law, the passage of the bill by the House demonstrates the extent of the conflict around the presence of religious symbols in American war memorials.</p>
<h2>Different meanings</h2>
<p>Both people of faith and those who are non-religious can feel uncomfortable with memorial crosses. For example, Daniel Headrick, an associate pastor, lawyer and 2018 fellow of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, <a href="https://christiancitizen.us/the-meaning-of-the-bladensburg-cross/">writes</a>, “To reduce the cross to a symbol memorializing war sacrifice is a quintessentially American act, but such a meaning is profoundly at odds with the theological significance of the cross.”</p>
<p>In other words, Headrick doesn’t believe a cross can be stripped of its religious meaning. </p>
<p>In a religiously plural democracy, war memorials with religious symbols can have different meanings for different citizens. These different meanings can be a source of conflict. Perhaps for this reason, the 19th-century French observer of American democracy <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/france/alexis-de-tocqueville">Alexis de Tocqueville</a> warned of the political effects when religion gets “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/815/815-h/815-h.htm">mixed up with the bitter passions of the world</a>.” </p>
<p>The Bladensburg Peace Cross case like the Mount Soledad Cross and the War Memorial Protection Act are present-day reminders that there is always more than one meaning of religious symbols.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112829/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corey D. B. Walker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A case regarding the constitutional validity of a cross shaped war memorial, is pending before the Supreme Court. An expert explains why these symbols have different meanings.Corey D. B. Walker, Visiting Professor, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1066592018-11-09T11:43:44Z2018-11-09T11:43:44ZTrump’s tariffs don’t apply to American flag imports from China – but they should<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244651/original/file-20181108-74787-4pc1fq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A surprising number of American flags are made in China.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-people-waving-armenian-flags-back-216220174?src=FtFXqRJ_5kgvt8x8mHdQ_Q-1-24">Rawpixel.com/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On <a href="https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1675470/5-facts-to-know-about-veterans-day/">Veterans Day</a>, many Americans drape the Stars and Stripes around their neighborhoods, businesses promote U.S. flags alongside their holiday discounts, and officials display them in government buildings. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp">holiday started off</a> as a day to honor those who fought in the “war to end all wars” and marked the armistice that ended hostilities on Nov. 11 exactly a century ago. And today Americans wave flags to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/11/11/how-veterans-day-went-from-celebrating-world-peace-to-thanking-armed-forces/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f4ea797eaef6">commemorate all veterans and active-duty members</a> of the U.S. armed forces.</p>
<p>Recently, while walking by a <a href="https://www.vfw.org/">VFW Post</a> dutifully displaying a U.S. flag, I read a newspaper <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/us/politics/trump-china-tariffs-trade.html">headline</a> about the president’s latest round of tariffs on Chinese goods. The juxtaposition of seeing the flag and the headline made me wonder, how many of those star-spangled banners actually come from China? And if so, are they being hit with the tariffs too? </p>
<p>You may be surprised at the answers – I certainly was. </p>
<h2>Made in China</h2>
<p>Every <a href="https://dataweb.usitc.gov/">shipment of imports brought into the U.S</a> includes a detailed invoice that shows the price, quantity and category of goods being imported, as well as <a href="https://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/index.htm">any tariff that’s been applied</a>. The national flag of the United States even gets its own code: 6307909825.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/index.htm">Harmonized Tariff Schedule</a> shows imported flags <a href="https://hts.usitc.gov/view/Chapter%2063?release=2018HTSARevision13">must pay a 7 percent tariff</a> unless the country of origin has signed a free trade agreement with the U.S.</p>
<p>The invoices show that in 2017 the U.S. imported 10 million American flags. Of those, all but 50,000 came from China. </p>
<p><iframe id="l3nC9" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/l3nC9/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>These imports represent just a tiny fraction of the <a href="http://www.fmaa-usa.com/info/faq.php#q20">estimated</a> 150 million U.S. flags Americans buy each year. Nevertheless, 10 million is still a large number for a national symbol.</p>
<p>The typical flag made in China is not the giant banner waving over car dealerships, town halls and fast-food restaurants. Instead, they’re the small ones you and your friends might wave at a Veterans Day parade. The average <a href="https://www.orientaltrading.com/small-cloth-american-flags-on-wooden-sticks-6-x-4-a2-5_161.fltr">imported Chinese flag</a> cost the importer only 56 cents, without including any tariffs, and weighs about two and a half ounces.</p>
<h2>An ‘all-American’ flag</h2>
<p>That so many Americans flags come from China seems incongruous to some, suggesting that this fact somehow undermines its patriotic symbolism. </p>
<p>As a result, a long list of bipartisan members of the House introduced the “<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3121/all-info">All-American Flag Act</a>” in June 2017. The bill would require all flags purchased by the federal government to be manufactured entirely in the United States using only raw materials that were grown, produced and manufactured domestically. </p>
<p>Currently, federal agencies are bound by the “<a href="http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title41/subtitle4/chapter83&edition=prelim">Buy American Act</a>.” This <a href="https://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/Subpart%2025_1.html">rule requires</a> that all flags purchased by the government be made with materials that are at least 50 percent American.</p>
<p>While the legislation did not make it out of committee, it is not from lack of trying. Similar bills have been introduced in <a href="http://www.fmaa-usa.com/legislation/legislation_tracking.php">every Congress since 2003</a>.</p>
<p>Since the legislation only affects federal purchases – <a href="http://www.newsherald.com/news/20160704/fast-facts-about-all-american-flag-act">estimated</a> at over 100,000 a year – there would likely be little impact on the number of flags imported. </p>
<p>But given President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-trump-promotes-buy-american-hire-american/">efforts to get more citizens</a> to buy American products, I thought it would be only natural that he would include the national flag on the list of Chinese imports being hit with tariffs.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/us/politics/trump-china-tariffs-trade.html">tariffs are</a> 10 percent as of Sept. 24 and will rise to 25 percent on Jan. 1. The <a href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/301Investigations/Tariff%20List-09.17.18.pdf">full list of items subject to tariff contains thousands</a> of product categories, from anchovies to zinc products. </p>
<p>What the list doesn’t include is American flags.</p>
<h2>A way to make the tariffs less painful</h2>
<p>I am an economist and generally favor free trade because of the benefits I and many other parts of society receive. </p>
<p>The tariffs have divided Americans and businesses about whether they’re a good thing. While some <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-18/this-industry-loves-trump-s-china-trade-war-and-only-wants-more">support</a> them, others are suffering because of the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tariffs-hit-those-trump-wants-to-help-u-s-factories-1539518400?tesla=y">rising costs of raw materials</a> or the higher prices at the cash register.</p>
<p>Trump clearly thinks the tariffs are the right way to make trade with China <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-unfair-trade-trump-xi-summit/">less unfair</a> and appears <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2016/11/09/how-donald-trump-thinks-about-trade">skeptical about free trade</a> more generally. He also wants Americans to buy more goods made at home. </p>
<p>I have a simple suggestion. Instead of putting punitive tariffs on a very large list of products, let’s instead put the tariffs on a much smaller list of important items, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/fact-check-is-china-dumping-steel-76916">steel</a>, which China is accused of dumping. Let’s also put tariffs on items tied to national defense, plus a few symbolic goods, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/rally-round-the-flag/">like flags</a>.</p>
<p>This would ensure most of the benefits of free <a href="http://businessmacroeconomics.com/">trade</a> are maintained, while the president is able to conduct a policy that doesn’t hurt as many U.S. businesses yet telegraphs to China and other countries that they’ll have to change their behavior. </p>
<p>As a result, the act of waving a flag on Veterans Day to honor the men and women who keep the U.S. free will be doubly patriotic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Millions of American flags come from China. Yet despite being symbols of patriotism, they’re not among the products subject to new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.Jay L. Zagorsky, Adjunct associate professor, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1029572018-09-14T10:32:39Z2018-09-14T10:32:39ZBattles over patriotism, Pledge of Allegiance in schools span a century<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236067/original/file-20180912-133898-nker9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Americans have long differed over whether patriotism should be pushed in their nation's schools.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chalky-united-states-america-flag-painted-92227174?src=yp86KA02MvSmj4IAUdVgdA-1-80">vepar5/www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When a California school principal called controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick an <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2018/09/05/seal-beach-school-principal-draws-fire-for-facebook-post-over-controversial-nike-ad/">“anti-American thug”</a> for his protests during the national anthem at NFL football games, <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/09/10/school-principal-faces-backlash-after-condemning-nike-kaepernick-campaign-on-private-facebook-page">passions were inflamed anew</a> over whether patriotism should be taught in America’s schools.</p>
<p>As our new book <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo28179129.html">“Patriotic Education in a Global Age”</a> demonstrates, such debates are longstanding in American history.</p>
<h2>Posting schoolhouse flags</h2>
<p>Seventy-five years ago, at the height of America’s involvement in World War II, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/319us624">West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette</a> that guaranteed public school students’ right to refuse to stand in patriotic salute. </p>
<p>Barnette’s origins go back to the late 19th century, when patriotic societies such as the Grand Army of the Republic – a Civil War veterans’ organization – and the Woman’s Relief Corps – the organization’s women’s auxiliary – launched a campaign to place a flag in every public school classroom. “The reverence of schoolchildren for the flag should be like that of the Israelites for the Ark of the Covenant,” the organization’s commander-in-chief William Warner <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=F_1UDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=The+reverence+of+schoolchildren+for+the+flag+should+be+like+that+of+the+Israelites+for+the+Ark+of+the+Covenant&source=bl&ots=VCa9IvnLil&sig=MnktS6X3XQ6yJwL23lo3fIoROjM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi92b_J2rXdAhVCGt8KHZAhDuUQ6AEwAnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=The%20reverence%20of%20schoolchildren%20for%20the%20flag%20should%20be%20like%20that%20of%20the%20Israelites%20for%20the%20Ark%20of%20the%20Covenant&f=false">enthusiastically declared</a> at a rally in 1889.</p>
<p>Three years later, in 1892, the schoolhouse flag movement received a huge boost when The Youth’s Companion – one of the nation’s first weekly magazines to target both adults and their children – hired minister-turned-advertiser Francis Bellamy to develop promotional strategies to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to America. Bellamy’s national Columbus Day program involved <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=jwGCBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=Bellamy%E2%80%99s+national+Columbus+Day+program&source=bl&ots=J2KkhX9xjA&sig=Fk7ZZHqcAUzDphMQ9yShYC_gDn8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiz4qG_vLbdAhWHl-AKHflZBjgQ6AEwD3oECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=Bellamy%E2%80%99s%20national%20Columbus%20Day%20program&f=false">assembling millions of students at their local schools</a> to recite a pledge in salute to the American flag. The magazine profited from flag sales leading up to the event. The United States didn’t have an official pledge of national loyalty, however. So Bellamy composed his own: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” </p>
<p>Over the course of the next 40 years, the pledge underwent three revisions. </p>
<p>The first occurred almost immediately following the Columbus Day celebration when Bellamy, unhappy with the rhythm of his original work, inserted the word “to” before “the Republic.” Between 1892 and the end of World War I, this was the 23-word pledge that many states wrote into law.</p>
<p>The second modification occurred in 1923 when the American Legion’s National Americanism Commission recommended that Congress officially adopt Bellamy’s pledge as the national Pledge of Allegiance. Fearing, however, that Bellamy’s opening phrase – “I pledge allegiance to my Flag” – permitted immigrants to pledge allegiance to any flag they desired, the commission revised the line to read, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.”</p>
<p>Over time, schools adopted the revision. Finally, in 1954, after the federal government included the pledge as part of the U.S. Flag Code during World War II, Congress reacted to the so-called godless communism many believed was infiltrating U.S. public institutions by adding the phrase “under God.” </p>
<h2>Mainstreaming the pledge</h2>
<p>Throughout the early 20th century, states across the nation passed laws that required student recitation as part of a morning flag salute so that by the time the United States plunged into World War I against Germany in 1917, pledging allegiance to the flag had become the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=F_1UDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA51&dq=promoting+legislation+requiring+American+flags+to+be+flown+over+all+public&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil4ZC5v7bdAhVpU98KHZjZC1sQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=promoting%20legislation%20requiring%20American%20flags%20to%20be%20flown%20over%20all%20public&f=false">standard beginning to the school day</a>.</p>
<p>This explains why, in October 1935, 10-year-old Billy Gobitas and his 11-year-old sister Lillian were expelled from school after they refused to salute the flag. As Jehovah’s Witnesses who believed that venerating the flag violated <a href="https://biblehub.com/exodus/20-4.htm">God’s prohibition against bowing to graven images</a>, the Gobitas family argued that the flag salute infringed the children’s First Amendment rights.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court eventually heard the case <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/310us586">Minersville School District v. Gobitis</a> – a misspelling of the respondent’s surname – and decided for the school district. “We are dealing with an interest inferior to none in the hierarchy of legal values,” Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote for the court’s 8-1 majority, as France was overrun by Hitler’s army: “National unity is the basis of national security.” </p>
<h2>Court declares rights</h2>
<p>Controversy ensued. Throughout the country, newspapers reported on <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/289/Kansas_Splits_on_Flag_Law.pdf?1536865948">debates over the flag salute.</a></p>
<p>Acts of violence were committed against the Jehovah’s Witnesses. These included <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/290/Beaten_on_Refusal.pdf?1536866133">beatings</a> acts of arson and even a case of tar and feathering.</p>
<p>At least partly because of the public’s reaction to the decision, the court agreed to hear another case that involved the flag salute just three years later. This time the case was brought by the families of seven Jehovah’s Witness children expelled in Charleston, West Virginia. Surprising many, the justices decided 6-3 in favor of the families and overruled Gobitis. </p>
<p>On Flag Day, 1943, Justice Robert Jackson delivered the majority opinion in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/319us624">West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette</a>. “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein,” Jackson declared. “If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.”</p>
<p>Although the Barnette decision held that students could not be forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the pledge has remained a mainstay of U.S. public education. Meanwhile, <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-1st-circuit/1544507.html">parents continue to oppose the pledge</a> as a violation of their children’s constitutional rights.</p>
<p>Consequently, legal challenges persist. One of the most recent cases challenged inclusion of the phrase “under God” in the pledge. In this case – <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2003/02-1624">Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow</a> – the court did not rule in the matter because the plaintiff who brought the suit lacked standing. Since the case did not address the underlying issue of religious freedom, future challenges are likely. </p>
<p>Similarly, Barnette did not address other pledge-related questions, such as whether students need parental permission to opt out of the flag salute. Cases that address this question, among others, <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/summary/opinion/us-9th-circuit/2010/03/11/168685.html">continue to be pursued</a>.</p>
<p>Whatever unresolved issues may remain, Barnette established as a matter of constitutional law and fundamental principle of American public life that participation in rituals of national loyalty cannot be compelled. The Supreme Court that rendered that decision clearly understood that non-participation can be well-motivated and should not be construed as a sign of disloyalty or lack of patriotism. The court was also clearly troubled by the vicious attacks on Americans who exercised their constitutional right not to participate. </p>
<p>We should be equally troubled now when we see public school leaders harshly condemn Colin Kaepernick – or any protester, for that matter – for how they choose to exercise their constitutional right to demand equal liberty and justice for all. Kaepernick decided to take a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality against African-Americans. The question we would pose to Kaepernick’s critics is this: How is taking a knee to affirm our country’s highest ideals anti-American?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102957/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Randall Curren's research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and John Templeton Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Dorn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As debates over protests during the national anthem continue to rage, two scholars examine how legal and moral battles over the merits of patriotism in public schools have been playing out for years.Randall Curren, Professor of Philosophy, University of RochesterCharles Dorn, Professor of Education, Bowdoin CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/990452018-07-02T12:30:28Z2018-07-02T12:30:28ZLa Marseillaise: has the song that unified the French republic become too divisive?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225700/original/file-20180702-116129-1c3op9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=175%2C35%2C816%2C645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To arms, citizens!</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Changes to French educational curricula rarely make headline news in Britain. However, both <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/french-pupils-must-learn-national-anthem-in-drive-against-islamism-qswm8vbzm">The Times</a> and the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/26/french-primary-pupils-must-know-national-anthem-eu-flag-ward/">Daily Telegraph</a> felt it worth reporting on a recent decision to make primary-school pupils learn, and sing, La Marseillaise. </p>
<p>At one level, it might seem perfectly natural, if one is going to have a national anthem, to spend a little time in school learning what it is. But opening up that basic question of what such a song is – and is for – reveals that nothing about such a choice is simple.</p>
<p>Unlike most national anthems, either generic patriotic ditties adopted in retrospect, or specially composed banal dirges to national virtues, La Marseillaise served as a real rallying cry for national survival. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marseillaise">Written in 1792</a>, when the French Revolution had just flung itself into war against the major powers of Europe, it speaks of the dread of counter-revolutionary invasion and the horrors it will bring:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Against us, tyranny’s<br>
Bloody standard is raised,<br>
Do you hear, in the countryside,<br>
The roar of those ferocious soldiers?<br>
They’re coming right into your arms<br>
To cut the throats of your sons, your women!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But this is also a “day of glory” to which the “children of the Fatherland” are summoned, and after raising this threat, the chorus bursts forth:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To arms, citizens,<br>
Form your battalions,<br>
Let’s march, let’s march!<br>
Let an impure blood<br>
Water our furrows!</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Man the barricades</h2>
<p>Thousands of volunteers marching to war on the frontiers, and to topple the monarchy in Paris, hurled these words to the skies, heralding the birth of France’s republican tradition and its defence through years of ensuing combat. In the first half of the 19th century the song was often suppressed in France by various monarchical regimes, but became part of the repertoire of international radical and revolutionary protest. It was finally anointed again as the official national anthem in 1879, after France had definitively become a republic once more.</p>
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<p>The moral weight of this tradition is captured in the famous scene in the film Casablanca, when the patrons of Rick’s bar, including several real refugees from Nazism, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM-E2H1ChJM">roar it out in defiance</a> of the German officers singing their own, anti-French, patriotic hymn, Die Wacht am Rhein. If this were the real meaning of La Marseillaise, pure and simple, what right-thinking person could object to learning it off by heart and singing it every day?</p>
<h2>Imperial legacy</h2>
<p>But Casablanca is set in Morocco, a sovereign monarchy transformed into a French “protectorate” in the years of great power rivalry before 1914, by the usual imperialist combination of force and guile. Its neighbour Algeria had been declared an integral part of France itself decades before. The very day, May 8 1945, that Europe was declared free of Nazi tyranny, French soldiers attacked Algerians protesting for independence, starting a <a href="http://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/printpdf/2658">wave of conflict</a> that killed more than 100 French settlers and several thousand Algerians. The next two decades in the history of France were stained by the brutal refusal to yield independence to its imperial territories, in wars that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.</p>
<p>The history of imperialism, and its legacies of racism and inequality, haunt La Marseillaise. In the 21st century, it has rarely been free of controversy. On some recent occasions, it has come to the fore once again as a symbol of a nation under attack. Twice, in January and November 2015, the French National Assembly united in singing it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/arts/music/after-paris-attacks-la-marseillaise-echoes-around-the-world-in-solidarity.html">after terrorist attacks</a> – attacks which nonetheless have posed hard and unanswered questions about the radicalisation of <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/marianne-under-siege/">marginalised youths of African origins</a>.</p>
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<p>More often, the anthem has become embroiled in controversies around sporting events – and particularly football matches – where, ironically and pervasively, the politics of national identity make headlines year after year. The French national team won the World Cup on home soil in 1998 with what seemed at the time like an epoch-making display of multi-ethnic unity. But in 2001, when the Algerian team came to Paris for their first ever encounter, La Marseillaise was greeted with a <a href="http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1850831,00.html">hurricane of booing from a crowd</a> largely made up of the descendants of colonial subjects. The match was eventually abandoned after a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/oct/08/newsstory.sport16">pitch invasion</a>.</p>
<p>The historian Laurent Dubois <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2013/03/the-blood-of-the-impure">has documented</a> the emergence of these tensions. They began with inflammatory comments in 1996 by the then-leader of the far-right Front National, Jean-Marie Le Pen, about non-white footballers not singing the anthem, and who were thus “fake Frenchmen”. In vain did players of a previous generation point out that nobody really sang the anthem. Le Pen made it such a touchstone that he launched his 2002 presidential campaign in front of the stadium where the Algeria game had been played, referencing the non-white crowd’s booing specifically as he did so. And, of course, Le Pen succeeded in getting through to the final round of that election, pushing aside the candidates of the left, as his daughter Marine did in 2017.</p>
<h2>Racist and xenophobic?</h2>
<p>Through these controversies, the association between La Marseillaise and race has been reinforced. In 2014, the justice minister Christiane Taubira, of Afro-Caribbean descent, was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-27444750">sucked into a social media row</a> with the conservative opposition after being seen not singing along at a ceremony marking the abolition of slavery. Supporters produced video of many other politicians doing likewise, but it formed part of a pattern of attacks on Taubira, one of France’s most prominent black politicians.</p>
<p>From the other side, the song’s lyrics, and particularly the line about “impure blood”, have increasingly been seen as essentially racist – in the wake of the Taubira incident, the actor Lambert Wilson <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-27444750">called them</a> terrible, bloody, racist and xenophobic". There have been <a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20140514/marseillaise-france-racism-taubira">campaigns to change them</a> or to change the whole song, while others argue that altering a few words will not deal with the underlying racism of society.</p>
<p>The series of shocking terrorist outrages in Paris and elsewhere since 2015 have, in some senses, put these squabbles into perspective. Christiane Taubira can be seen, just about singing along, in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MK7o_76QeU">video</a> of the November 2015 parliamentary Marseillaise. In other senses, however, they have heightened the tensions which lie behind the disputes. Taubira herself resigned from the government two months later, unwilling to endorse a proposal to strip French citizenship from convicted terrorists. </p>
<p>The 2017 presidential election was fought in part on a clearly right-wing terrain over <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-french-presidential-candidates-are-arguing-about-their-colonial-history-75372">the merits of France’s colonial history</a>, and whether both revolutionary and imperial pasts had to be accepted for one to be truly French.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the non-white descendants of imperial subjects continue to inhabit the deprived estates of the urban periphery – the famous <em>banlieues</em> – and to experience <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/22/nothings-changed-10-years-after-french-riots-banlieues-remain-in-crisis">economic neglect and police brutality</a> under governments of every colour. Alongside the new educational focus on La Marseillaise the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has just announced a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44625625">policy of universal national service</a> for all 16-year-olds: it remains to be seen whether this or anything else will be enough to unite the children of the Fatherland – and where they are supposed to march.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99045/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Andress does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Primary school children in France will now have to learn and sing La Marseillaise. But for many people, it is racist and xenophobic.David Andress, Professor of Modern History, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/974932018-06-01T12:53:09Z2018-06-01T12:53:09Z‘Fiero’: a new kind of national pride for the 2018 World Cup<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221354/original/file-20180601-142066-147gq3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/frankfurt-germany-june-10-general-stadium-50375164?src=m0DuiLT2EOfbeZm8FGkOrw-1-5">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At last, the <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/">FIFA World Cup 2018</a> is almost here. After four years of waiting, and an interminable qualifying campaign, football’s finest are getting ready to compete. Excited fans (like me) have fixture lists pinned to the wall and our television viewing schedules mapped out. </p>
<p>That said, aspects of the whole affair do make me uneasy – not least the idea of national pride. And while I’ll be enthusiastically cheering on the England team and celebrating any success they might achieve (who knows?), that won’t stop me from thinking of pride as a complex and problematic phenomenon. Not for nothing is it known as one of the “seven deadly sins”.</p>
<p>The notion of the deadly (or cardinal) sins is thought to originate with an early Christian movement known as the “desert fathers”, especially <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Evagrius-Ponticus">Evagrius Ponticus</a>, the 4th century <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/asceticism">ascetic</a>. He identified eight evil thoughts or spirits that one needs to overcome in order to make spiritual progress and avoid misfortune. </p>
<p>The list was rendered into Latin, and in 590AD was revised by Pope Gregory into the canonical seven that are known universally today: <em>gula</em> (gluttony), <em>luxuria</em> (lust), <em>avaritia</em> (avarice), <em>acedia</em> (sloth), <em>ira</em> (wrath), and <em>invidia</em> (envy), and, last but not least, <em>superbia</em> (pride). </p>
<p>Of these, subsequent church leaders often placed particular emphasis on the latter as the root of the other sins. As Saint Augustine wrote: “It was pride that changed angels into devils”. In more recent times, the English author C.S. Lewis similarly <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mere-Christianity-Lewis-Signature-Classic/dp/0007461216">called pride</a> “the essential vice, the utmost evil”, since its excessive vanity and arrogance cuts us off from the humility required for salvation.</p>
<p>Modern psychology may not use such vivid, dramatic language. But pride is definitely seen as problematic. For instance, inflated self-assessments can prompt people into taking on tasks that exceed their capacities – potentially leading to failure. This outcome can be particularly damaging if one’s self esteem depends on external validation and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15122925">achievement of these goals</a>. </p>
<p>More perniciously still, pride can be imbued with noxious qualities, such as narcissism, which are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8650299">linked to higher levels of aggression</a> – particularly when inflated self-appraisals are threatened. </p>
<p>Pride can also be a collective phenomenon, which a person may experience on behalf of a group to which they belong. Although this can sometimes be a positive process, it can potentially have more damaging manifestations. These include a corrosive collective narcissism, an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief about the greatness of that group. Not only that, but the affection for those inside the group might then be matched by antipathy towards those outside it – sometimes with hostile, aggressive and even <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00351.x">violent consequences</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, the history of humankind is a tragic demonstration of these dynamics. Take any major war or conflict and these destructive processes are clearly apparent. </p>
<p>They have cast a dark shadow over football too. In England, the game has previously been marred by violent hooliganism. After the terrible <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-32898612">Heysel stadium tragedy</a> in May 1985, in which 39 people died and 600 were injured during the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus, English clubs were banned from European competitions for five years. And even while the behaviour of most fans has generally improved, many national teams still attract dark forms of nationalism and aggression.</p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>How, then, should we feel about national pride in the coming weeks? It goes without saying that hostility and violence should have no place in football. But are all forms of pride bad? </p>
<p>After all, at an individual level, while narcissistic self-aggrandisement may be harmful, the value of qualities such as positive self-regard and confidence is still <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2005-07153-007">widely recognised</a>. And at a collective level, movements such as Gay Pride show that upholding group self-worth can be affirmative and celebratory without denigrating others. </p>
<p>In that respect, perhaps we need a way of differentiating forms of pride, separating the good from the bad.</p>
<h2>‘Fiero’: justified pride</h2>
<p>In that respect, maybe it would be helpful to develop a more subtle lexicon that distinguishes between these types. And there are already efforts underway in psychology. </p>
<p>Consider the example of the Italian word “fiero”, one of those fascinating untranslatable terms which lacks an exact equivalent in the English language. I’ve become fascinated by such words, particularly ones relating to well-being, and have begun creating an evolving “<a href="https://www.drtimlomas.com/lexicography">positive lexicography</a>” of these.</p>
<p>These words can reveal phenomena which have been overlooked or underappreciated in one’s own culture and language. </p>
<p>In Italian, “fiero” can sometimes function in the same way as pride. However, the Italian psychologist <a href="http://uniroma3.academia.edu/IsabellaPoggi">Isabella Poggi</a> has <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-25775-9_39">used it to describe</a> a specific form of pride, one that is justified and earned, often because one has triumphed over adversity. </p>
<p>Consequently, influential theorist Paul Ekman has included “fiero” in his <a href="http://atlasofemotions.org/">Atlas of Emotions</a>, where he describes it as the “enjoyment felt when you have met a challenge that stretched your capabilities”. Crucially, rather than use the complex and ambivalent label of pride, he used “fiero” to depict the specific positive form of pride that he had in mind.</p>
<p>So perhaps I’ll aim for this kind of pride over the coming weeks. Not the kind that trumpets superiority over other teams – which could be difficult for an England supporter in any case – nor the sort that ignites hostility and aggression towards rival fans. </p>
<p>Rather, a pride that means being happy we’re there at the party. Being gratified if, win or lose, we try our best, play with passion and commitment, and carry ourselves with dignity and good grace. A kind of pride worth celebrating.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97493/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Lomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Italy failed to make it to this year’s tournament – but we should applaud their notion of ‘fiero’.Tim Lomas, Lecturer in Positive Psychology, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/848102017-09-29T18:58:53Z2017-09-29T18:58:53ZThe difference between black football fans and white football fans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188080/original/file-20170928-1449-1qygp07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New Orleans Saints fans cheer from the stands during a game against the Denver Broncos in 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Broncos-Saints-Football/6587d340e6dd439a8a8f5bcf1f3483cb/155/0">Jeff Haynes/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A significant portion of the NFL’s fan base <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/poll-majority-of-americans-disagree-with-colin-kaepernicks-protest/">has reacted negatively</a> to the national anthem protests of the past year. The responses tend to follow a pattern:</p>
<p><em>The stadium is no place for political protest. The game is a color-blind meritocracy. To protest football is to protest America.</em></p>
<p>But according to <a href="http://plaza.ufl.edu/tsorek/articles/Americanfootball.pdf">a study we published last year</a>, white football fans and black football fans hold very different views about the relationship between football and national pride. And it might explain why there have been such divergent, emotional responses to the protests.</p>
<h2>Black Americans love football, but…</h2>
<p>Social scientists who study sports have <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=9icbi39vm8AC&dq=george+sage+sport&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqwKin1MjWAhXFPiYKHb5jAGkQ6AEINDAC">long argued</a> that sports are a powerful political stage. Popular wisdom, on the other hand, <a href="https://www.theodysseyonline.com/sports-politics-should-never-mix">tends to maintain</a> that sports are inherently apolitical, and should remain that way. </p>
<p>It’s true that until recently, visible black protests in American sports were rare. Yes, Muhammad Ali <a href="http://www.edgeofsports.com/product/Whats-My-Name-Fool/">was outspoken about politics</a> and became a symbol of black protest in the 1960s. And there’s <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zpYxyEMDJjsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=dave+zirin+john+carls&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivm5_JzMrWAhVF-lQKHQeLBjEQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">the famous instance</a> of Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists in the 1968 Olympic Games. But generally, athletes have not waded into politics, no doubt in part because of the influence of corporate interests and sponsors. (Michael Jordan, when asked why he wouldn’t endorse a black Democratic candidate for Senate in 1990, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Second_Coming.html?id=BA5mPwAACAAJ">famously said</a>, “Republicans buy shoes too.”) </p>
<p>So for many white fans, the racial issues addressed by the protests upend what they see as the innocent, colorless patriotism of football. </p>
<p>But for black fans, feelings of alienation toward the imposed patriotism in NFL games have been stewing for a while. And it may be that black athletes finally decided to respond to the attitudes of their black fans.</p>
<p>In our study, we aggregated 75 opinion polls between 1981 and 2014, and compared the relationship between national pride and football fandom among white and black Americans. </p>
<p>We found that since the early 1980s, national pride has been in decline among American men and women of all races. But among black men, this decline has been especially sharp. At the same time, it’s also been accompanied by a marked increase in their interest in the NFL. </p>
<p>We suspect that this inverse relationship isn’t coincidental. </p>
<h2>Which Americans do patriotic displays speak to?</h2>
<p>For decades, the league and broadcasting networks <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0193723508319715">have conflated football with patriotism</a>. Massive American flags get spread across the field before the game, celebrities sing highly produced renditions of the national anthem, military jets streak across the skies and teams routinely honor veterans and active service members. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188079/original/file-20170928-22252-1v3sknm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188079/original/file-20170928-22252-1v3sknm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188079/original/file-20170928-22252-1v3sknm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188079/original/file-20170928-22252-1v3sknm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188079/original/file-20170928-22252-1v3sknm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188079/original/file-20170928-22252-1v3sknm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188079/original/file-20170928-22252-1v3sknm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188079/original/file-20170928-22252-1v3sknm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Fighter jets do a flyover and military personnel hold a giant American flag before an NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Ravens-Eagles-Football/105f92a2cbc04ff4bc685419399f0b51/7/0">Mel Evans/AP Photo</a></span>
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<p>Networks air segments about the players’ lives and team histories that emphasize racial integration and national unity. They also promote the narrative that hard work and following the rules lead to success on the field – the crux of the American Dream. </p>
<p>Many football fans might embrace these displays, which reinforce their beliefs and reflect their view of the country as a <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/online/poll-majority-of-whites-see-america-as-colorblind-nearly-80-of-african-americans-do-not/">colorblind</a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-steven-friedman/americas-incomplete-thoug_b_1696282.html">meritocracy</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, our study did show that enthusiasm for football and national pride are interrelated. </p>
<p>But the nature of this relationship depends on your race. </p>
<p>Only among white Americans did we find a positive association between football fandom and national pride: Football fans were much more likely to express high levels of national pride than white Americans who weren’t football fans. Among African-Americans, on the other hand, there was a negative association. This suggests that when black fans watch their favorite team play, it’s a very different type of experience. </p>
<p>And this was happening long before Colin Kaepernick decided to take a knee. </p>
<h2>Black identity and American identity</h2>
<p>W.E.B Du Bois once observed that for black Americans, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Souls_of_Black_Folk.html?id=lTXYAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false">a fundamental tension exists</a> between their American identities and their black identities. We now know <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=A2SXphY-DvIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">from other studies</a> that African-Americans tend to see themselves as less “typically American” than other races. Meanwhile, among white Americans there’s a common tendency <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thierry_Devos/publication/7994359_America_White/links/0912f4fa17cfc9118e000000/America-White.pdf(3):447.">to link American national identity with whiteness</a>.</p>
<p>It could be that the symbols of American national pride – so visible during football games – give white fans the chance to unite their national pride with their fandom. To them, the fact that African-Americans make up between <a href="http://www.celticcreek.org/images/nflreport.pdf">65 and 69 percent</a> of all NFL players is simply part of the country’s ethos of “inclusion.” </p>
<p>But for black fans, the overrepresentation of African-American athletes might mean something else. Football broadcasts can create highly visible opportunities to express black prowess, pride and resistance. At the same time, watching wildly successful black players on the football field might sharpen the contrast of <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=QQglDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=racial%20discrimination%20in%20America&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false">racial injustice off the field</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2749514?seq=1#p5age_scan_tab_contents">studies have shown</a> that the more black Americans emphasize their blackness, the less likely they are to have patriotic feelings.</p>
<p>Together, this could create a situation where black fans are prone to reject the popular national narrative that links football to a wider, ethnically blind meritocratic order. To many of them, football isn’t connected to any sort of national identity in a positive way, so it’s easier for black fans to press successful black athletes to protest the status quo and use their platforms to address issues of discrimination and inequality. </p>
<p>In other words, even before black athletes started taking an explicit stand, their presence and success on the field created the conditions to question the dominant ideology of a meritocratic, colorblind society. National debates about inequality, police brutality and incarceration clearly resonate with many players, and they’ve been pushed to respond. </p>
<p>Looking at it this way, these protests were only a matter a time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recent study might explain why there’s been such divergent, emotional responses to the NFL protests.Tamir Sorek, Professor of Sociology, University of FloridaRobert G. White, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847252017-09-28T09:50:30Z2017-09-28T09:50:30ZTrump’s national anthem outrage ignores decades of Supreme Court rulings<p>When San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/27/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest">chose to remain seated</a> during a pre-game national anthem in protest against racial injustice and police brutality last year, his action caused widespread controversy. Now Donald Trump has reignited that controversy by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JMnfmxA_Qo">suggesting at a rally</a> that National Football League (NFL) players who take similar action should be kicked off their teams:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b*tch off the field right now, he’s fired? He’s fired!’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-surprising-connection-between-take-a-knee-protests-and-citizens-united-84645">fallout</a> was immediate. Stephen Curry, player for the Golden State Warriors, responded that he did not want to attend an event at the White House honouring the team’s success. Trump fired back by publicly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/23/sports/stephen-curry-trump-nba-.html?_r=0">withdrawing the invitation</a>. In response, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/american-football/41381896">teams, players, and managers</a> across the country (and at the London-based NFL games) followed Kaepernick’s example and kneeled, or stood, with arms locked in protest as the anthem was played before their games. </p>
<p>And so the debate rages on. But if anyone defending the players’ right to kneel (or <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/takeaknee?lang=en">#TakeAKnee</a>) needs some backup for their arguments, there’s an obvious place for them to look: the judgements of the US Supreme Court, which has heard a number of major cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance and the treatment of the American flag, all touching on the obligations of patriotism and the right to refuse to participate in national rituals. And more than that, the court is generally
<a href="http://democracyinstitute.la.psu.edu/documents/PollReportJusticeReappointmentfinal.pdf">supported by the people it serves</a> – even when they <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-trumps-america-is-the-supreme-court-still-seen-as-legitimate-84242">disagree with its decisions</a>.</p>
<p>So as the Trump-NFL national anthem controversy continues, let’s look at some of what the court has said on this subject over the decades.</p>
<h2>Compulsory unity</h2>
<p>In January 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II, West Virginia’s State Board of Education adopted a resolution requiring the state’s children to salute the flag as part of their daily school activities. Much as did <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912280282224525312">Trump</a> in his <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912037003923005440">recent</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/912443924979077120">tweets</a> about players’ refusal to stand for the national anthem at sporting events, the board argued that the salute would “honour the nation represented by the flag” and that refusal to participate would be “regarded as an act of insubordination”. </p>
<p>The board’s actions were inspired by a ruling two years earlier. In <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/310us586">Minersville School District v. Gobitis</a> (1940), it was found that a compulsory flag salute and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance did not violate the constitutional rights of Jehovah’s Witness children, who objected to the actions on the grounds that it violated their faith’s requirements not to worship graven images. The <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/personality/landmark_minersville.html">fallout from that decision</a> included laws and resolutions similar to West Virginia’s, increased reports of physical assaults on Witness children, and threats to send non-conforming children to reformatories. </p>
<p>But the backlash wasn’t long in coming, and in 1943, the court <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/319/624/case.html">reversed its decision</a> in <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/west-virginia-v.-barnette-the-freedom-to-not-pledge-allegiance">West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette</a>, holding that such compulsory activities did violate the US Constitution. </p>
<p>The court recognised that the flag symbolised adherence to the government and that national unity was an important value: “National unity as an end which officials may foster by persuasion and example is not in question.” It also noted that the case involved an emotional issue and was difficult “not because the principles of its decision are obscure, but because the flag involved is our own”. But the court also argued that “to sustain the compulsory flag salute we are required to say that a Bill of Rights which guards the individual’s right to speak his own mind, left it open to public authorities to compel him to utter what is not in his mind”.</p>
<p>Recognising that the Board of Education had acted in good faith, the court nevertheless issued a stark, eloquent warning: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Struggles to coerce uniformity of sentiment in support of some end thought essential to their time and country have been waged by many good as well as by evil men … Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The justices also had a message for those who saw the children’s refusal as a threat to American patriotism and unity: “To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds.”</p>
<p>Individuals might disagree with the actions taken, the court argued, but that does not mean such actions threaten the nation’s future, strength, or unity. In fact, the freedom to disagree is at its strongest when such disagreement touches on the most controversial issues.</p>
<h2>Protecting contempt</h2>
<p>Those most upset about players who choose not to stand for the national anthem might also do well to revisit a 1990 case, <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/inside-the-supreme-courts-flag-burning-decision">Texas v. Johnson</a>, in which the court struck down a Texas law banning the burning of the American flag. </p>
<p>In concurrence with the decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/491/397/case.html">expressed his difficulty</a> with the case: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The hard fact is that sometimes we must make decisions we do not like. We make them because they are right, right in the sense that the law and the Constitution, as we see them, compel the result. And so great is our commitment to the process that, except in the rare case, we do not pause to express distaste for the result, perhaps for fear of undermining a valued principle that dictates the decision. This is one of those rare cases.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>“I agree,” Kennedy continued, “that the flag holds a lonely place of honour in an age when absolutes are distrusted and simple truths are burdened by unneeded apologetics.” But, he argued, “it is poignant but fundamental that the flag protects those who hold it in contempt”.</p>
<p>Kennedy’s words have a particular message for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23boycottnfl&src=typd&lang=en">those</a> who see the players’ actions as an affront: sometimes those same American values demand you accept actions of which you don’t approve. You don’t have to like the decision to kneel during the national anthem, but you do have to accept that people have the right to do so without fear of retaliation.</p>
<p>The court has time and again recognised that the American people think differently about issues, and that they can express those differences so long as others are not prevented from exercising their own right to reply. Those caught up in the current debate should take heed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84725/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Long does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trump-style views on freedom of expression and patriotism have been found wanting many times before.Emma Long, Lecturer in American Studies, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/814632017-08-11T00:59:50Z2017-08-11T00:59:50ZRise in globalism doesn’t mean the end for nationalists<p>Are you more of a nationalist or a cosmopolitan? Or both?</p>
<p>Recent events suggest that a nationalist backlash to globalization is <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21710249-his-call-put-america-first-donald-trump-latest-recruit-dangerous">on the rise</a>. The United Kingdom’s decision to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887">leave</a> the European Union, Donald Trump’s win in the U.S. presidential election and the growing popularity of right-wing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/world/europe/europe-far-right-political-parties-listy.html?_r=0">parties</a> in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/18/nation-state-marine-le-pen-global-mood-france-brexit-trump-front-national">France</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/opinion/the-freedom-partys-second-chance-in-austria.html">Austria</a> and <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/germanys-far-right-rises-again-214543">Germany</a> attest to this. </p>
<p>Liberals in particular are puzzled by the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-03-15/a-look-at-global-neo-nationalism-after-brexit-and-donald-trumps-election">spike in nationalism</a> on a global scale. Some may wonder, where have all the global citizens gone? The answer, I argue, is nowhere. The confusion comes in because the ideal of a selfless global citizen, someone who puts global issues above national interests, does not really exist. </p>
<p>It’s true. Data from the World Values Survey shows that since the early 1990s, the integration of markets, communities and cultures has bred a new generation of people who consider themselves “cosmopolitan,” or global citizens. The World Values Survey was started by social scientists in 1981, and is often conducted face-to-face with representative samples of adults from each country. Researchers such as Pippa Norris and Roland Inglehart, among others, have also used the World Values Survey data to identify trends in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cosmopolitan-Communications-Diversity-Globalized-Communication/dp/0521738385">cosmopolitanism</a>.</p>
<p>Three-fourths of nearly 85,000 adult respondents from 60 countries surveyed by the <a href="http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp">World Values Survey</a> between 2010 and 2014 identified as global citizens.</p>
<p>However, my <a href="http://burcubayram.net/Research_files/Bayram_Draft_Nationalist%20Cosmopolitanism.pdf">research</a> shows that global citizenship and nationalism are not mutually exclusive.</p>
<h2>Global citizens love their country</h2>
<p>Of those who strongly identified as global citizens in the latest round of the World Values Survey, 82 percent also strongly identified with their nation, and 74 percent are highly proud of their nation.</p>
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<p>About 68 percent of the 2,176 respondents from the U.S. expressed either a strong or a moderate degree of global citizenship. Of these global citizens, more than 46 percent also strongly identify with the United States, and 61 percent are very proud to be American. Similar patterns exist in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.</p>
<p>This data suggests that most global citizens do not shed their national identity. Global citizens are still protective of national interests.</p>
<p>Consider this. The <a href="http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV5.jsp">2005-2009 World Values Survey</a> included a question (not repeated in the latest round) that asked respondents whether their nation’s leaders should give top priority to help reduce poverty in the world, or solve their own country’s problems. About 62 percent of those who identified as global citizens said they would put their country’s problems first. The policy implication of this is that global citizens are not necessarily interested in increasing foreign development aid to poor countries.</p>
<p>Many global citizens also take a hard-line stance on immigration. Of those who strongly identified as global citizens, more than 36 percent supported making immigration conditional on the availability of jobs. Some 35 percent preferred placing strict limits on immigration, and about 12 percent supported a total ban. Only about 16 percent of global citizens favored unrestricted movement of people.</p>
<p>When it comes to requirements for citizenship, many global citizens supported models of citizenship that require ancestral bonds. About 70 percent of those who strongly identified as global citizens said ancestry is important in qualifying for citizenship.</p>
<h2>What is global citizenship then?</h2>
<p>What this data suggest is that while many see global citizenship and nationalism as <a href="https://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/07/10/when-and-why-nationalism-beats-globalism/">polar opposites</a>, they are not. The growth of the number of people who identify as global citizens does not mean nationalist concerns, hawkish foreign policies and isolationism are concepts of the past. For many, being a global citizen and a nationalist go hand in hand.</p>
<p>Global citizenship is an acquired social identity that is shaped by how individuals prioritize <a href="http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol2/iss1/11/">values</a> such as universalism and self-enhancement. As I show in my <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1354066114541879">article</a> published in the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ejt">European Journal of International Relations</a>, global citizenship is compatible with both selfish and altruistic values. While some global citizens are motivated by universal moral concerns such as protecting the environment and the welfare of human beings, others are simply driven by egoistic motives. And these egoistic motives can be used to protect the nation. </p>
<p>The million-dollar question is, how do people really understand global citizenship? Right now, we have a better idea of what global citizenship is not than of what it is. Global citizens do not seem to like conformity, status quo and convention, but they like the nation and even put it first.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81463/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Throughout her career, A. Burcu Bayram received funding from The Ohio State University, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, American Political Science Association, Fritz Thyssen Foundation. </span></em></p>Data show that many people who consider themselves ‘global citizens’ also harbor strong national sentiments. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.A. Burcu Bayram, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of ArkansasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/821622017-08-08T15:06:25Z2017-08-08T15:06:25ZPros and cons of the three women running for South Africa’s presidency<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181208/original/file-20170807-16774-tzj94a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women singing at a South African ANC Women's League meeting.Three senior women in ANC are contesting the presidency of the party.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa celebrates Women’s Day on August 9th to mark the day in 1956 when <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/1956-womens-march-pretoria-9-august">20 000 women marched</a> to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to insist on their rights. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.gov.za/womens-day">Women’s Day</a> provides an opportune moment to reflect on what it would mean for South Africa to be governed by a woman president after the 2019 elections. Three women from the governing African National Congress are running as candidates - Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Baleka Mbete and Lindiwe Sisulu. Because voters vote for a party, the President is elected by the members of parliament. The ANC holds the majority vote, which means that the president will most likely be an ANC candidate.</p>
<p>All three women are ANC stalwarts who can be considered as part of the exile generation. They were all active in the liberation struggle, and all have contributed to the country since the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-african-general-elections-1994">first democratic elections in 1994</a>. </p>
<p>The question is: will having a woman as president lead to more of the same in terms of the trajectory the ANC has been on since 2007 when Jacob Zuma was elected as President? </p>
<p>And, will a woman at the helm bring a set of feminist values to the table? Women leaders who believe in substantive representation, more than merely numbers in government, will bring a commitment to changing conditions of gender inequality to the position. They are normally influenced by feminist values. Former British Prime Minister <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-no-feminist">Maggie Thatcher</a>, for example, did not care about women’s equality at all, while <a href="https://panampost.com/belen-marty/2015/03/10/bachelet-gives-chilean-feminists-a-shot-in-the-arm-with-new-ministry/">Michelle Bachelet</a> implemented far reaching gender policies in Chile.</p>
<h2>A woman at the helm</h2>
<p>If South Africans get a woman who will govern in the same way as a man they would have gained nothing but a switch in gender. But because the three candidates also participated in the liberation struggle, they know how difficult it is for women to advance in political parties and how gender equality needs to be taken off the back burner.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181176/original/file-20170807-16790-cjdbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181176/original/file-20170807-16790-cjdbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181176/original/file-20170807-16790-cjdbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181176/original/file-20170807-16790-cjdbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181176/original/file-20170807-16790-cjdbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181176/original/file-20170807-16790-cjdbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181176/original/file-20170807-16790-cjdbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dlamini-Zuma, Sisulu and Mbete are more or less the same age and have long track records as political leaders. In many respects they have similar or better track records than some of the ANC’s male leaders. All three are well educated. </p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/nkosazana-clarice-dlamini-zuma">Dlamini-Zuma</a></strong> holds a <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/nkosazana-clarice-dlamini-zuma">medical degree</a> from the University of Bristol. She has held three ministerial positions – health, foreign affairs and home affairs. She was also <a href="http://www.africaunionfoundation.org/en/council-members/nkosazana-dlamini-zuma">chair of the African Union</a> from 2012 to 2017.</p>
<p>It’s both unfair and sexist to talk about Dlamini-Zuma solely in terms of the fact that she is President <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/ferial-haffajee/heres-a-list-of-nkosazana-dlamini-zumas-accomplishments-so-you_a_21650920/">Jacob Zuma’s ex-wife</a> as though she has no other credentials.</p>
<p>As Minister of Health she spearheaded policies that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/ferial-haffajee/heres-a-list-of-nkosazana-dlamini-zumas-accomplishments-so-you_a_21650920/">made health care free</a> for poor women and children under the age of six. </p>
<p>During her period at the AU she championed gender equality and a gender <a href="http://www.africaunionfoundation.org/en/pages/agenda-2063">vision for 2063</a>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.gov.za/about-government/leaders/profile/1044">Baleka Mbete</a></strong>, holds a diploma in teaching and is the national chairperson of the ANC and the speaker of the National Assembly. She was the Secretary-General of the ANC Women’s League from 1991-1993 and a member of the presidential panel of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She has not held a ministerial post. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181180/original/file-20170807-16761-13ylia8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181180/original/file-20170807-16761-13ylia8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181180/original/file-20170807-16761-13ylia8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181180/original/file-20170807-16761-13ylia8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181180/original/file-20170807-16761-13ylia8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181180/original/file-20170807-16761-13ylia8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181180/original/file-20170807-16761-13ylia8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Baleka Mbete.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Staining her record was her connection with a <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Parly-reprimands-Travelgate-MPs-20070329">scandal</a> involving the misuse of parliamentary air tickets, as well as <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/mbete-survived-scandal-much-like-zuma-417256">fraudulently</a> obtaining her driver’s licence.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pa.org.za/person/lindiwe-nonceba-sisulu/"><strong>Lindiwe Sisulu</strong></a> is the daughter of ANC icons <a href="https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/south-africa-fast-facts/history-facts/inourlifetime">Walter and Albertina Sisulu </a> which is why she’s often referred to as <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/dispatch/sisulus-presidency-campaign-raises-a-number-of-questions-10548291">“ANC royalty”</a>. She has a BA Honours degree in history and political studies and is studying for a PhD. </p>
<p>Of the three candidates she has the most experience in the executive. She has held six ministerial portfolios, including defence and intelligence.</p>
<p>What makes her an excellent candidate is the fact that she is not involved in any faction and has a good record of good governance. She will also be able to deal with the rot in the intelligence sector since she worked as an intelligence officer under Zuma when he was head of ANC intelligence when the organisation was banned.</p>
<p>But what is their relationship with the organised women’s sector?</p>
<h2>The candidates and women</h2>
<p>Mbete was the Secretary-General of the ANC Women’s League at a time before it became a tea club for male leaders. She was also the chair of the women’s caucus in parliament. She understands feminism and was considered a militant member of the women’s league when it returned from exile. At the time she insisted that women should be <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/The_ANC_Women_s_League.html?id=ebeVBQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y">mobilised to fight for their rights</a>. </p>
<p>But her years as the speaker of parliament have marred her track record. When members of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – which included women – were <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2016-02-11-eff-chants-zupta-must-fall-as-they-exit-sona">forcibly removed</a> by security guards during Zuma’s State of the Nation Address she stood by as they were manhandled and assaulted. </p>
<p>For its part, the women’s caucus never really took off.</p>
<p>Dlamini-Zuma was a member of the Gender Action Group during the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/convention-democratic-south-africa-codesa-codesa-2">Convention for a Democratic South Africa</a>. But in the first parliament she didn’t stand out as a vocal supporter of feminism in the same way as many other women MPs. These included <a href="http://www.sahrc.org.za/home/index636f.html?ipkContentID=76&ipkMenuID=58">Pregs Govender</a> and <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/dr-frene-noshir-ginwala">Frene Ginwala</a>.</p>
<h2>The case for a woman president</h2>
<p>I believe that South Africans should support a woman for president. The fact that they’re being scrutinised more closely than male candidates points to the patriarchal assumption that woman cannot possibly be well qualified as political leaders. </p>
<p>South Africa has lost many opportunities to appoint a woman president. Take <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/phumzile-mlambo-ngcuka">Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka</a>, who served as deputy president under Thabo Mbeki. She went on to become the <a href="http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/directorate/executive-director">executive director of UN Women</a> where she is doing a sterling job.</p>
<p>What the ANC needs is a candidate who will unite its factions and start to root out corruption. It should be a candidate with a good track record of clean and committed governance and one who is committed to promote a women’s equality agenda. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181174/original/file-20170807-16724-1bmwbhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181174/original/file-20170807-16724-1bmwbhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181174/original/file-20170807-16724-1bmwbhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181174/original/file-20170807-16724-1bmwbhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181174/original/file-20170807-16724-1bmwbhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181174/original/file-20170807-16724-1bmwbhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181174/original/file-20170807-16724-1bmwbhf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lindiwe Sisulu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The fact that Dlamini-Zuma has hedged her bets with the Zuma camp has made her a member of a faction. She’s supported by the <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/politics/2017-06-13-anc-youth-league-names-top-leadership-choices-to-drive-transformation-agenda/">ANC Women’s League and the ANC Youth League</a>. But the credibility of both organisations is severely damaged. This may not, however, be the perception of many hardcore ANC supporters and may win her large numbers of votes at the ANC conference due to be held in December. </p>
<p>Support for Dlamini-Zuma could have far reaching consequences. If she’s viewed as representing an extension of Zuma’s patronage networks, her election as his successor could lead to a split in the party, weakening it severely in next year’s general election. </p>
<p>The right woman therefore needs to be supported. </p>
<p>During her term as speaker Mbete used strong arm tactics against opposition parties. Her decisions may have left many voters with a bad taste in their mouth. She is also viewed as a Zuma ally.</p>
<p>That leaves Sisulu, who may be a dark horse. But is she a darker horse than <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/cyril-matamela-ramaphosa">Cyril Ramaphosa</a>, another <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/mpumalanga-is-ramaphosas-golden-ticket-analyst-20170712">contender for the presidency</a>? </p>
<p>What is unfortunate is that so far none of the three women have made gender equality the focus of their campaigns.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Gouws receives funding from the National Research Foundation</span></em></p>All three female contenders for the presidency of the ANC and South Africa have strong liberation struggle credentials and have also contributed to democracy. But, are they up to the job?Amanda Gouws, Professor of Political Science, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/815332017-08-04T09:07:26Z2017-08-04T09:07:26ZThe charity causes that Brexit Britain’s Leave and Remain voters support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180231/original/file-20170728-15340-1ph75og.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">via shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The great British public are a charitable bunch. But people do not give out their hard-earned cash equally, and they prefer certain charities. A <a href="http://www.marketingtrust.org/downloads/Marketing_Trust_Charity_Begins_at_Home.pdf">new study</a> I led suggests that a person’s political views and attitudes towards their own country – and whether they voted for or against Brexit – can explain which causes they support. </p>
<p>We asked 1,004 members of a UK nationally representative consumer panel how much they agreed with a range of statements. Some of these statements were aimed at assessing their national identity, such as “If one feels loyal to one’s country, one should strive to mend its problems” and others their political attitudes, such as “Overseas development aid contributes to a more peaceful and equal world”. We also posed questions about their newspaper readership, preferred charitable causes and how they voted in the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU. Our results show that, similar to the referendum results, 51.2% of respondents voted Leave, with 48.8% Remain and a small number who chose not to say.</p>
<p>Overall, while 54% of respondents indicated that they trusted local charities, the picture for international causes was far less positive. Only 31% of people said they trusted international charities with only 26% intending to donate to an international cause in the future.</p>
<p>A local charity’s work is usually more visible locally than work undertaken across continents, and supporting such causes may help somebody feel part of their local community. But those who voted Remain in the referendum were more likely to trust and donate to international causes in the future.</p>
<h2>National identity and giving</h2>
<p>The survey also included questions measuring the extent to which individuals are patriotic (show a care for their country), nationalistic (seek dominance over other countries) and internationalistic (more concerned with global welfare). Statements here ranged from those which indicated national superiority – “For me, the United Kingdom is the best state in the world” – to those concerning international cooperation – “We should be more willing to share our wealth with other nations, even it if does not necessarily coincide with our political interests”.</p>
<p>From these questions, our respondents were most likely to be patriots (62%) followed by nationalists (47%) or internationalists (45%). Nationalists and patriots showed a positive preference for domestic charities and a neutral stance on international causes. This suggests that individuals with potentially xenophobic attitudes will prioritise home charities, but are not necessarily averse to helping out global causes – provided this does not compromise their own country’s well-being. </p>
<p>In contrast, internationalists supported international charities but were very negative towards domestic causes. From this it appears to be far harder to persuade someone who self-identifies as a “global citizen” to give to domestic charities. Their perceptions of global inequality and severity of need appear more powerful than any desire to help fellow nationals.</p>
<p>The survey also demonstrated that the way people voted in the UK’s referendum on EU membership is a powerful predictor of their donation preferences. Leave voters were more likely to be nationalist, more ethnocentric in their charitable giving and also support austerity policy as a means of reducing national debt. </p>
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<p>Remain voters, on the other hand, were more likely to be internationalist, positive towards international charities and supportive of overseas aid. This would suggest that if you know how someone voted in the EU referendum, you can with some confidence predict what sorts of causes they are most likely to support – a handy trick for charities with limited fundraising budgets.</p>
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<h2>Six types of potential donor</h2>
<p>Bringing the data together, the findings indicate the existence of six distinct clusters who vary based upon their charitable giving, political and national attitudes. For example, the “educated liberals” are professionals with a global outlook, pro-Remain attitudes and high trust in all charities – although don’t expect them to donate to causes for the armed forces or emergency services. Similarly, “young urban altruists” have an interationalistic mindset but also display patriotic sentiments, making them a potential target for both domestic and international charities.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the “anti-EU nationalists” harbour right-wing political views, read The Mail, Daily Express and The Sun, are typically less likely to donate to charity but display strong preferences for domestic causes. Although not as nationalistic, “home-first casuals” are also likely to have voted Remain and be more supportive of domestic charities. </p>
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<p>“Cautious pragmatists” accounted for 33% of our respondents and describe those people who are less politically engaged. Although they have lower levels of trust in charities than other groups they do donate a modest amount. For those charities after a group to avoid altogether in fundraising terms: beware the “disengaged cynics” who favour domestic over international causes but tend not to trust (or donate to) charities at all. </p>
<p>Our research shows that while some people believe that charity begins at home but can extend to other countries, others feel that charity begins and ends further afield. Targeting the right group of people is crucial for charities who want to fundraise effectively.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Hart received funding from The Marketing Trust for delivery of the 'Charity Begins at Home' project. </span></em></p>New research has examined the extent to which charity begins at home for Britons.David Hart, Principal Lecturer in Marketing, Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.