bodhisattva wrote:
Nationalism/Patriotism was a backlash to the elightenment ideals. It can lead to xenophobia which can lead to racism. It is not racism itself, though it can be interwined with it.
It can be as harmless as wanting your soccer team to pound the snot out of the other countries team, or as hateful as Lefein claiming that non-americans should not be afforded the same human rights as american citizens.
/shrug
Being patriotic is one thing. Taking pride in one's nation, is akin to taking pride in your family. People came to this nation once because of pride. The gave up everything they were to become American. Those people got it. This current batch of idiots parading as Americans, and the people that are coming across our borders illegally do not.
Those people don't understand that it was our similarity that made this nation great. Our desire to be Americans, and be innovators, and leaders, is what made us great, along with our steadfast and relentless pursuit of what we thought was right, made us great.
Too many people have forgotten that. In our rush to "include" everyone, we have divided ourselves, and as a great friend once told me "A house divided against itself cannot stand". This nation was a beacon of hope for the world, well except England for a time. The United States inspired people in other countries to take their own futures in their hands, and demand freedom. This nation stood up for others, when they could no longer stand up for themselves. We help others when, and give when it hurts, because there is someone in need. These values know no bounds. This nation is great because we can be whatever we want, whatever we can work to be. There aren't but a handful of countries that can claim that same distinction, and I'm DAMN PROUD to be an American.
Of course, this begs the question: Does that make me better than someone else? No, of course not. It only means that I have the ability, and the potential to be the best that I can be. To think otherwise would just be puffing out your chest. The United States
may be the best nation in history, or it
may not, I cannot decide that, and no one alive today can decide that. Only history can decide if we live in the greatest nation of all time.
What I can tell you is this: Taking pride in ones nation is NOT the same as being a racist. Calling yourself Asian-American, African-American, Italian-American, or whatever stupid XXXX-American you can name yourself is. You place your race above your country. You divide yourself from the country. By doing such, we have destroyed what made this nation great: Being Americans FIRST. We have cheapened those things that made being a citizen important. Today, if you look at a survey, they as if you're African-American (just an example, because it's the most readily available sample), when the majority of "African-Americans" were born in this country, and are considered something they are not, and that is natives of Africa. This offends many of my friends. They were born on this land. They would die defending this country. They wonder why they have to be considered something else before American. It's an insult to them to have to have a title in front of American.
That's what this quote is about. Once you are a citizen of this country, you are an American first, everything else second. If you want to still be proud of where you came from, great! Just remember that you are an American first, of whatever decent second.
