[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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