A patriot is defined as someone “who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors”.
It’s an oft-used word by former President trump to describe his supporters. Yes, the very same supporters who mercilessly attacked the Capitol police, smashed windows and doors, smeared feces and urine on the walls and floors, and sought to assassinate our political leaders. He believes they are patriots.
I’m sure that many believe these people truly thought they were supporting the country and defending it from enemies within. The problem, however, lies within their particular definition of ‘country’.
America is a country filled with people from many different places. Though we are (for now) still a majority white country, there are Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans, and immigrants from all over the world. It’s a melting pot where anyone can come to pursue their own personal ‘American Dream’.
If you lay claim to being an American patriot, then this is the America you must defend. An America that includes all of us.
The wannabe ‘patriots’ who rioted at the Capitol were the same base that trump has courted since Day One of his presidency. Though there may have been a handful of other races in the mix, the overwhelming majority of the rioters were whites who see their country becoming ethnically diverse, and are fearful that this portends the end of their \power and, perhaps, life as they know it.
What happened at the Capitol wasn’t patriotic. The armed insurrection we witnessed that day was the work of scared racists who were angry that their favored position was being stolen by Black and Brown people in Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. A last gasp of white supremacy desperately, and pathetically, masquerading as patriotism.
Even though America often lets me down as a Black man, I continue to embrace it while working to affect change – as much as I’m able – within my sphere of influence. This is my contribution to help make it “a more perfect Union”. That’s what it means to be an American. That’s what it means to be a patriot.
If you’re not willing to embrace ALL that it means to be an American, then you’re no patriot. I don’t know what you are, but you’re not a patriot.