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Saturday, April 20, 2024

April 20-21, 2024: Mythic Patriotisms in 2024

[Up here in New England, the third Monday in April is a holiday, Patriots’ Day. But as I argue in my most recent book, patriotism is a very complex concept, and so this week I’ve highlighted a handful of examples of the worst of what it has meant for how we remember our histories. Leading up to this special weekend post on the state of mythic patriotism in 2024!]

On two ways that mythic patriotism can help us understand this year, and one related request.

I’ll start with the request: Of Thee I Sing came out in March 2021, just two months after the January 6th insurrection (I gave my first book talk on the project on January 7th, which was, well, a whole lot); but I believe that the contested history of American patriotism is if anything even more relevant to 2024 than it was in that moment. I’ve had the chance to talk about the book and those subjects a lot over the last three years, but I nonetheless believe we’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to those conversations, and would hugely appreciate any and all connections to opportunities and communities to keep the conversation going. That includes classes/students (high school as well as higher ed), book clubs and discussion groups, organizations and institutions of all kinds, podcasts, whatever you got! (I’m also very willing to travel within reason, so I’m not talking just virtual by any means.) Feel free to email with any ideas, and thanks very much in advance!

There’s no doubt that the MAGA movement has leaned as heavily into the rhetoric and symbolism of patriotism as any political community in my lifetime. I don’t disagree with Jon Stewart’s recent Daily Show rant that a movement defined so completely by allegiance to an individual, and a dictatorial one at that, really doesn’t embody any recognizable form of American patriotism. But I do think the concept of mythic patriotism in particular can help us understand some of the essence of this movement’s ideologies, some of what they mean by phrases like “Make America Great Again” (or its telling predecessor “I want my country back!”). Or, relatedly, why this movement, like Donald Trump’s own political ascendance, began so clearly with Barack Obama’s election to the presidency, one of the most blatant symbolic challenges to white supremacist visions of American politics, society, community, and identity as in any way homogeneously or essentially white. Birtherism was perhaps the first defining conspiracy theory for a movement that is more or less entirely defined by conspiracy theories, and it was a mythic patriotic conspiracy theory if ever there’s been one.

If MAGA has been the defining political force of the last decade or so, the last few years have been especially defined by anti-education efforts (and related trends like book bans and attacks on libraries), and it seems clear that such culture wars debates will play a significant role throughout this election year as well. As I discussed in Monday’s post on the 1776 Project, it’s difficult for me to overstate how central mythic patriotism is to these attacks on educators, curricula, books, and any and all other forces that challenge this specific vision of American history and identity. Moms for Liberty and all the others behind these efforts can talk all they want about threats to children or “grooming” or whatever other justifications they’re advancing, but the essential truth is that these educational elements are dangerous to these groups and this perspective precisely inasmuch as they offer challenges and alternatives to white-centered (and often overtly white supremacist) visions of America. And that’s the thing with mythic patriotism, as I’ve highlighted throughout this series—it not only excludes many Americans from its vision of our history, it also excludes all those who would challenge and counter that vision. Identifying and responding to such mythic patriotism is thus a crucial 2024 goal.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. What do you think?

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