Happy 4th of July! From Boy Box Rebellion
I was born in 1965, and lately, I’ve come to think I’ve lived most of my life in an American golden age that stretched from 1945, when this country played a significant part in defeating Nazism and Fascism, to 2015, when this country was led by its first Black president and Marriage Equality became the law of the land.
Of course, some bad things happened in my lifetime. Vietnam, Watergate, the HIV/AIDS crisis. But when I was a baby, the middle class was still expanding, and minority rights were on the ascent. The Civil Rights movement was in full swing. The modern Women’s Rights movement was well underway. LGBTQ rights would take off a few years later. And somehow the Cold War ended without nuclear bombs destroying the world.
At some point in my youth, I realized this country was far from perfect and had never been perfect. What happened to Native Americans and enslaved Black Americans was unimaginable. And even though those terrible wrongs would forever stain our origin story, the steady drumbeat of progress I witnessed from my youth to middle age gave me the impression that, generally speaking, and despite minor setbacks, we were always headed toward a better America.
The last few years have robbed me of that optimism and naivety. Now I think we will always have to struggle against our darker instincts to hate and fear the other and to take advantage of those with less power. But that only means we have to fight harder. Now is not the time to give up or throw out our founding principles.
Recently, I heard someone explain that the difference between patriotism and nationalism is like loving your family as opposed to thinking your family is perfect and all other families are trash. We can love someone in a healthy way and take pride in their accomplishments and talents while recognizing they have limitations and problems. That is how I want to love my country. And it is my country and my flag. I want to be patriotic in that way, especially on this day. I’m not about to cede any ground to those who would drive people like me out.
I love American history and those who fought for its independence despite their flaws. Thankfully, they laid the groundwork here and around the world for equality and democracy. I love this country's national parks and natural beauty. I love simple American food, and how you can find food from around the world because this country has allowed people from everywhere to move here and become Americans. I love jazz, the blues, country, and rock and roll. I love Social Security and Medicare. I love the public school system and that we invested in public universities so that an education was no longer reserved for the children of the rich. I love that we invested in science and the space program and sent astronauts to the moon. I love that we encouraged invention and innovation. I love the houses. Tree-lined streets with craftsman bungalows, American foursquares, Victorians and colonial revivals. I love the way we celebrate Halloween, and the way we cover everything in lights for Christmas. I love our car culture, and roadside motels and diners that sell fresh apple pie. I love the people, their kindness and generosity, and all their stories. I love American writers. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Poe, Hemingway, Shirley Jackson, Harper Lee, Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Stephen King, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and James Baldwin. I love the artists. And American movies…. Oh, my God, the movies. And the movie stars.
I love this country. Happy birthday, America.
As Woody Guthrie said, “This land is your land. This land is my land. From California to the New York island. From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters. This land was made for you and me.”
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