July 6-7, 2024: Critical Patriotism in 2024

[For my Patriots’ Day series this year, I highlighted examples of mythic patriotism from across American history. So I thought for my July 4^th series I would AmericanStudy examples of the other, directly opposed category at the heart of Of Thee I Sing: critical patriotism. Leading up to this weekend post on the state of critical patriotism in 2024!]

On protests that exemplify critical patriotism, protests that don’t quite, and why it’s not as simple as that.

As part of a Patriots’ Day series back in 2016, I highlighted #BlackLivesMatter co-founder Alicia Garza as an example of 21^st century critical patriotism. I believe the last eight years have more than borne that out, and would go further and argue that the Summer 2020 #BlackLivesMatter protests exemplify critical patriotism as well as any recent events. There are lots of ways I could make that case, including of course the protests’ overarching goal of pushing the nation closer to its stated ideals of (among others) equality and justice for all. But one detail that really struck me with each and every protest was the fact that virtually all the participants (or at least a clear majority, but often the vast majority) were wearing masks, looking out for each other and their communities during that pandemic moment. To my mind, critical patriotism isn’t just about what we say, but also and especially what we do; and while protesting is one meaningful such action, protesting in ways that look out for each other is an even more inspiring example.

I was very hesitant to write about this year’s campus protests as part of this post (or anywhere else), because I think they’re a genuine minefield of complex and contradictory issues. I absolutely support students’ expressing their freedom of speech and standing up for what they believe, as I hope this column made clear. But I would also argue that in some significant ways these campus protests do not qualify as examples of critical patriotism, and I’d highlight two such ways in particular: the number of speakers and chants at the protests that have quite specifically defined the United States as a negative presence if not indeed a villain on the global landscape (a perfectly understandable perspective to argue for, but definitely not a critical patriotic one); and the too-frequent ways in which at least some protest participants have attacked members of their own communities, especially Jewish community members and at least sometimes with Nazi imagery (which is not at all understandable as a perspective, and closer to the form of patriotism I define as mythic and exclusionary than any other).

Those differences between the 2020 and 2024 mass protests are real and significant, and do to my mind mean that the 2020 protests qualify as critical patriotism far more than do the 2024 ones (which of course is far from the only way to define or measure them). But at the same time, even if we acknowledge that those 2024 elements were present and even more consistent than would be ideal, I would nonetheless add that the campus protests did in fact help push the nation, and more exactly the federal government, closer to our shared ideals, with one excellent example being the Biden administration suspending military support for the Netanyahu administration’s campaign of genocidal violence against the Gazan city of Rafah. Protests always exist on a spectrum from the most inspiring and critical patriotic to the least so (January 6^th, anyone?), and while I believe the 2020 protests were further along that spectrum than the 2024 ones have been, there are still without question critical patriotic effects of this year’s protests. And if that helps remind us of both what protests can accomplish and the overarching value of critical patriotism, that’ll be a great pair of July 4^th lessons to keep in mind, in this election year and at every American moment.

Next series starts Monday,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Other examples of critical patriotism, past or present, you’d highlight?