reparations: patriotism is a doubleedged sword.

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>> Rod Hay <rodhay@xxxxxxxxxx> 02/11/00 12:14PM >>>
A much broader political alliance could be formed, if it was simply shown
that a large number of people lack the necessities of life in a late
capitalist economy. Do not have suitable, housing, education, health care,
etc. Talk about reparations to long dead victims of slavery is simply going
to divide people, in the same way that the question has divided Lou and Brad.
And hurling slings of "racists" is not going to build the political alliance
required.

&&&&&&&&&&

CB: I think of the reparations movement and rhetoric as a valuable antidote to patrioticism. And I think of patriotism as an important underpinning of the political consciousness ,especially great power chauvinism, of 10's of millions of Americans today.  And great power chauvinism and the related hubris are major barriers to building a progressive political alliance of the type Rod mentions, for winning suitable housing, education, health care, jobs, etc. not to mention peace and anti-imperialism.

The conservative movement in the U.S. today, the main barrier to achieving the economic freedoms and democracy that Rod mentions, relies very much on the myth of the benevolent and democratic role of America in history, home of the brave and land of the free and all that. Although it may not be entirely logical, many average Americans deny today's problems because they think that America is a great country with a great history and it spoils that to think that it has a lot of social and economic problems today.
When people say "America is the greatest country in the world", in their minds they mean both today and over the last 200 years.

 Patriotism based on this mythical history would collapse today if most Americans thought  of the U.S. as an evil empire over the last 200 years, instead of some new leading country in good politics ( democracy). Despite the efforts of today's ruling class to make everybody ahistorical in their thinking,  sincere love of country , singing the national anthem, pride in the flag ,etc. is instilled in a large percentage of the mass base of Reaganism/conservatism 2000.

So, to me an important part of the reparations movement is the factual historical case it builds on slavery. Most patriot Americans, especially Whites, have a selective memory when it comes to their building a good feeling inside themselves about their country, which very much includes its history. The reparations movement today can do a great service to exactly the type of struggle that Rod describes if it can  help to destroy some of the myths that underlie American patriotic consciousness. People should feel there are some good reasons to burn the flag given what it truly represents in history. Or at least people should be a lot more ambiguous about the meaning of the flag.

And again, very few people talk about how long dead are all the Founding Fathers and early American historical figures when somebody is giving an explanation for their love of country. Then the fact that these are old dead people becomes a basis for veneration and  fond "memory" .  But patriotism is a double edged sword. If one identifies with what one likes about Washington, Jefferson etc. , one is obligated logically to identify with their crimes as well. And if one identifies with their crimes , then one must make amends for those crimes just as much as one wants to take patriot credit for their accomplishments.

The fact that a lot of intellectuals on this list do not feel patriotic misses the point that a lot of average people do feel patriotic.  Those are the ones that I want to rethink their patriotism and modify their current conduct accordingly.