How to Love America in 2020
On the heels of six months of mass sickness and death, the federal government’s wholly insufficient mitigation of an economic crisis, naked police brutality and an excessive police response to protests against it, and big swath of a population that can’t shoulder the burden of even the slightest sacrifice in the name of public health, it’s inevitable for many of us to feel that the Fourth of July rings especially hollow this year. Indeed, I’ve already seen plenty of social posts listing the above failings, and numerous others, in service of making the point that Americans should be ashamed today, not proud.
Acknowledging these failings, and decrying them as such, is both wholly valid and necessary. A leader’s abdication of responsibility for keeping his people safe, as well as the racism and classism that continue to cost lives, are worthy of every ounce of our disgust and every act of opposition we can muster. Citing them as a reason to consider this country a lost cause is understandable.
It’s also, in my opinion, a bunch of defeatist horseshit. It’s easy to tally the kinds of failings that have made these such troubled times. But writing the country off because of these failings neglects to distinguish between American systems and America as a whole. While the former has been an abject disaster, including but not exclusively of late, the latter holds plenty of reasons for patriotism. Our unparalleled diversity makes me proud to be American. So do lots of other things, from our natural landscapes to the eccentricity of our B-movies.
Don’t let the people who exercise, and strive to uphold, our systems of oppression claim the mantle of “America.” They shouldn’t get to define this country. A country is not its government or — especially in a country like this one — just one culture. You, your communities, your art, and all the good you do are America too.
I don’t care if you barbecue or set off fireworks, or whatever you choose to do, or not do, for the Fourth of July. I, myself, am having a pretty ordinary day this year. But if you feel like you hate your country — which is your right — I’d urge you to reconsider what, exactly, a country is. Conflating the actions of the state and the identity of the country is facile. The actions of the American state are largely reprehensible, but the identity of the country includes growing communities of color, Zion National Park, jazz, and motherfucking Iggy Pop. And I’ll be proud of those things until the day I die.