Tuesday, July 4, 2023

July 4, 2023: Patriotism in 2023: Black Legislators, Past and Present

[It’s been two and a half years since my book on the contested history of American patriotism was published, and let’s just say it doesn’t feel less relevant at the moment. So for this year’s July 4th series, I wanted to highlight a handful of places and ways I’ve been thinking about the book and patriotism here in 2023. Leading up to a request for any and all further such opportunities to share the project!]

I’ve talked in many different settings, including on this blog, about the role that online writing has played over the last 15 years of my career in helping me develop pretty much all of my ideas, including those that became my books (at least books three through six, and probably a good bit of book two as well). In the case of Of Thee I Sing, I can trace that process specifically through a series of Saturday Evening Post Considering History columns: from this one in January 2020 on Martin Luther King Jr. and critical patriotism; to this one exactly a year later on critical patriotism and the American Revolution; to this one right when the book was coming out in March 2021 on critical patriotic women. So it was fun to circle back to my project’s ideas and categories for a new column this past April, using that moment’s controversy around two Black state legislators in Tennessee to discuss our contrasting but interconnected histories of racist imagery and critical patriotism. I believe that’s a great example of how a frame like critical patriotism can help us understand and analyze current events, one more reason I’m determined to continue sharing this project everywhere I can!

Next patriotic post tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Ideas for places/ways I could share Of Thee I Sing?

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