Not a Nationalist

Not a Nationalist

I am a Patriot.  I believe in the United States as an exceptional nation.  I believe that America, despite all of its flaws and failings, has been the “shining city on the hill” of Ronald Reagan’s voice, serving as an example to the world. I believe in the foundation of the Declaration of Independence, that all are created equal, and the structure of the Constitution.  They represent a hope of freedom and prosperity unprecedented in world history.

I am not a Nationalist. While I believe in American exceptionalism I do NOT believe that it was founded on some warped and racist view of white supremacy.  I, in fact, believe in the opposite:  that the strength of the United States is in its admixture of cultures, ethnicities, and races.  America is best represented by its Main Streets:  Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Southern, Soul, McDonalds and Starbucks all lined up beside each other.  That is the America I believe in, one that draws strength from all of its diverse cultures.

I share in the dream of the “caravan” forming thousands of miles away in Central America.  They have lived in danger, in poverty, in fear for their children’s lives.  They are looking for a better life and a better place; of course they are coming to America.  While that represents a problem, they  represent the BEST of what America offers the world. How we respond, either with compassion, love and respect for the risks they took; or with guns, prisons and families ripped apart:  that will say what America is today.

The President of the United States has tapped into a dark side of America.  The fear and inadequacy that some feel; the loss of unearned power based on skin color and wrongful tradition, have left a sad few looking for answers in hate and repression.  The President has found a way to tap into the power of that fear, and use it to leverage the ballot box and subvert the principles of his political party.  That fear is strong enough to silence or ostracize those within his party that dare to speak differently.

We used to speak of “dog whistles;” quiet signals of nationalism and racism that only few could hear.  Mr. Trump has carried us into a different age, where there is no need to whisper. He has shouted the dog whistles into clarion calls.  Not only does he speak of “nationalism” as positive, empowering the hate, but he has given license to all those petty acts of racism that go on day to day.  Whether the police are called for “blacks barbecuing in the park” or “restaurant staff speaking in Spanish,” or folks are publicly shamed through the anonymity of Facebook; we are in a new age of hate.

This is nothing new to America.  In my college dorm room in the early 1970’s I put quotes on my wall.  One was Robert Kennedy’s:

 There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why?  I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?

He represented the best of what America could be, ripped away at the moment we needed him most.  But contemporaneous with him, was an American “nationalist,” George Wallace, who stood on the capital steps in Montgomery, Alabama and stated: 

In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.

There were of the same era and the same political party.  Wallace’s “greatest people” were white.  The “tyranny” he fought was the Federal government enforcing integration and equal opportunity.  I had both quotes on my wall to remind me what we were fighting for, and against.

We thought, and hoped, that the sentiments of George Wallace had faded away.  They certainly were suppressed and made unacceptable in public discourse.  But clearly they were not gone, and Mr. Trump has become a new voice for their sad views.  He can’t even claim to have invented this old fear, he simply has made it “acceptable”  again and given it power.

He is stoking those suppressed views to bring out his vote, to stand against the America of the future.  It is disheartening to see our nation revert to the arguments we thought we left on the wall in some dim dorm room forty years ago,  but here we are.  We need to fight the fight and win once again.  So pick up your protest sign, cast your ballot, and stand for what is great in America.  We changed the world before, we can do it again.