Patriotism is a funny concept to me. I have both ancestors and friends who have / are fighting in the US military. I have a friend (who's blog is a very interesting read) who is doing his second tour in Iraq right now. I had a grandfather who fought in WWII. I was young when he died, but i remember his funeral having a military style to it. Patriotism is often connected to the concept of sacrifice. Patriotism requires us to be willing to lay down our very lives if needed, for land that will thus be passed on to future generations. Patriotism appeals to the idea that you give back to the land that has given so much to you. Patriotism also calls us to honor the sacrifices of those who have came before us, so that we may be here today.
All of that makes perfect sense to me. The only problem I have is that...Im Black...and...what the history of this country means to me, will look very different from what this country might look like to someone else. White America has often asked me to look the other way with regard to this nations history. Even in the face of widespread jim crow policy in contemporary America (look at voter fraud and its disproportionate impact on communities of color, jena 6, ). I watched a film last night called Uncounted (please watch it). The film talked about the voter fraud in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in '04. I knew it was bad, but i had no idea it was that bad.
The film did a wonderful job of explaining why communities of color are easy targets for voter fraud. These communities overwhelmingly vote democratic, and are easily identified (by color). They are the least able to retaliate based on economic resources. And, there is a lack of understanding around the process for contesting fraud. Its a no brainer. Remember, this is not a history report, this is a contemporary commentary on the USA. There was an appeal by the movie makers to encourage all Americans to fight for the right to a paper ballot system as opposed to the e-vote machines. The machines offer no paper trail and therefore cannot be audited. A banking institution would never allow this with an ATM, so why would the electoral process allow this with VOTING of all things (mind you, Diebolt makes both the e-voting machines and a vast number of America's ATM's)
What I found interesting about the film was recorded by me last night:
It's interesting to me that everyone involved with the film, can in one hand acknowledge the perils around the African American vote, and in the same breath, talk about defending democracy by returning the right to vote back to...what? Whites? If African Americans have been disenfranchised for over 2oo years, when did real democracy in this country EVER exist. Women, Asians, the poor, Latinos, and Blacks have ALL had their right to vote stripped, challenged, or modified by the power structure (which is not composed of any of these in the aforementioned groups).
After the film there was a discussion and the only other brotha there made the same point i did: My America doesnt look like your America. It cant. White America often does not understand this (but...they do. Why do you think whites are often more apt to question the patriotism of a person of color? Is it because they "know" deep down inside that people of color have been given various reasons NOT to be patriotic?). The idea of voter fraud being the greatest threat to democracy based on the loss of paper ballots, misses the bigger picture. The loss of democracy happened a long time ago. It started when the Native Americans were betrayed and massacred for the land THEY owned. It continued with the institution of slavery. Democracy was destroyed when the US government decided to inflict a takeover of Mexican territory. Democracy is not under attack in America. America IS democracy under attack. However, until enough white Americas feels the pinch of their own illusions, significant change will be seen as undesirable.
Welcome to the land ex clusion and delusion...land of the free whites and home of the brave slaves
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