Episode 11: What Does it Mean to be an American Patriot?

How have our shared visions of American ideals influenced the meaning of patriotism? How has this definition evolved over time? Ted Johnson from New America delves into the complexities of American patriotism.

You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Transcript

Franklin D. Roosevelt: My fellow Americans, in 1776, on the fourth day of July, the representatives of the several states in Congress assembled, declaring our independence, asserted that a decent respect for the opinion of mankind required that they should declare the reasons for their action.

Shannon Lynch: On July 4, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation from his hometown of Hyde Park, New York. On the brink of joining the Second World War, FDR reminded his fellow Americans what it means to be a true patriot.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: When we repeat the great pledge to our country and to our flag, it must be our deep conviction that we pledge as well our work, our will, and if it be necessary, our very lives.

Shannon Lynch: How has our collective vision of American ideals shaped what it means to be a patriot? And how has that definition shifted over time?

Welcome to Democracy Deciphered, the podcast that analyzes the past, present, and future of American democracy. I'm your host, Shannon Lynch. For this special Fourth of July episode, I'm excited to be joined by my New America colleague, Ted Johnson, to discuss what it means to be an American patriot.

Ted Johnson is a senior advisor at New America, providing counsel on policy and strategy to the executive office. He leads the flagship Us@250 initiative. Johnson's research examines the role that race plays in electoral politics and its impact on the national narrative and American identity.

Johnson is a retired U.S. Navy commander, having served for two decades. He's also a former White House fellow and speechwriter to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Prior to New America, Johnson was a senior fellow and senior director of the Fellows Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. Johnson's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Review, and The Atlantic. He is a writer for The Washington Post and author of When the Stars Begin to Fall, Overcoming Racism and Renewing the Promise of America.

Johnson is a proud HBCU graduate, holding a BS in mathematics from Hampton University. He also has an ALM with a concentration in international relations from Harvard University and a Doctor of Law and Policy from Northeastern University.

Ted, thank you so much for joining me.

Ted Johnson:Yeah, thanks for having me. It's good to be here.

Shannon Lynch: So, getting us started, how was patriotism expressed in early American history? Like what symbols, actions, or beliefs defined it?

Ted Johnson: Yeah, it's an interesting question because I think the first version of patriotism was basically George Washington. He kind of became the embodiment of what it meant to be an American, with the prototypical American, who it was, what they looked like, sort of the life they lived. So George Washington became the symbol. And of course, a flag came along later, you know, Statue of Liberty, all these other things sort of become associated with the country. But George Washington was the first.

I think the second big display of patriotism, maybe aside from the iconography, but just sort of in sentiment, was Stephen Decatur. He's a Navy admiral. One of the first wars that the United States gets into after they've sort of worked their way out of the Revolutionary War and into the 18th century is with pirates in the northern part of Africa, the Barbary Wars. Decatur does some very cool, heroic stuff. He gets back to America. They ask him to say a toast at this observance, recognizing his heroism, and he gives the famous toast: "Our country, in our intercourse with other nations, may she always be in the right, but always successful, right or wrong". And that became the embodiment of what it meant to be patriotic in America.

This early version, very nationalistic, very sort of like manifest destiny, it's our turn. Like we're up and coming and we're righteous and noble and sort of ignores a lot of the hypocrisies in the country at the time. Then the last thing I'll say, this sort of this triumvirate of Washington, Decatur, those with the partisanship of the early 18th century, and the Declaration of Independence was initially kind of forgotten. And then the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists are arguing with one another about who should be president, who should control Congress. And they take to their supporters and say, the other side doesn't love the country as much because they didn't read the Declaration at their celebrations. So it almost became, who can cling closest to the Declaration as a show of patriotism and using that as a partisan or political cudgel, which probably feels a lot familiar to folks today.

Shannon Lynch: Yeah, that's really interesting. So, you touched on this for a brief second, but when and how did American patriotism begin to intertwine with nationalism? What forces drove that shift?

Ted Johnson: So I think initially it was sort of us against the world, you know, the British Empire, incredibly strong at the time we fought for our independence, France was strong, Portugal, strong seafaring nation, Spain as well. And so we are trying to sort of establish ourselves in the global sphere, the Western hemisphere, I should say. And so nationalism was sort of not European. To be an American was to not be European, but it was also to not be the Native American. Or any of the other, you know, other colored peoples from different parts of the world. So it was like a very distinct way of defining nationalism during that time. Since then, nationalism has almost come to mean excluding people that are here in the States and not people that abroad.

And so the nationalism that we're kind of seeing today has its roots in our very complicated history around Native American removal, around the enslavement of Black folks, around the indentured servitude of Asian American folks, of folks like the Irish and the Italians when they first came over. So, nationalism has always been exclusive, or rather exclusionary. It means to leave other people out, whereas patriotism in its truest American sense has been about inclusion.

And it's for this reason that we see in every war the nation has ever fought, all of the people that have lived here have fought in that war or helped support it. So we see enslaved Black people fighting in the Revolutionary War. In the Civil War, the War of 1812, very patriotic actions, even though they enjoyed none of the freedoms that the nation was founded on at the time. So this distinction between patriotism and nationalism is almost, it teeters on who can be included. A more inclusive version here tends to be patriotic and a more exclusionary version tends to be quite nationalistic in nature, specifically culturally.

Shannon Lynch: A lot of people associate the support of the military closely with American patriotism. We actually had a very large military parade here in D.C. recently. In what ways did that parade reflect or diverge from historical displays of American patriotism?

Ted Johnson: Yeah, so for the United States, we are a nation founded as a result of war. We are a nation that tore ourselves apart and then remended ourselves on the back of war. We are a nation that basically made its way in the world due to the outcomes of world wars. So, the military has played an essential part in the nation's formation, both domestically and abroad. And for those reasons, the military sort of has been at the forefront of our expansion and our strength, whether you agree with those policies or not, makes expressions of military pride almost synonymous with what it means to be patriotic, or at least supporting these displays as being patriotic. And usually the military is the focus.

It's about heroism. It's the institution and its history, its accomplishments on the battlefield. It gives the American people an opportunity to say thank you and to celebrate the success of their sons and daughters who have gone into dangerous places to defend the country and the Constitution. That's typically what they've been used for, whether enslaved folks during the memorial, you know, the first Memorial Day in 1865 or military parades after World War I, II, or even after the first Desert Storm war in 1991.

The difference today with the Army's 250th birthday on June 14th, which also happens to be Flag Day and also happens to be President Donald Trump's birthday. And this was the first time that a military parade of this size was held our nation's capital apart from military victory overseas or from a presidential inauguration.

And while the Army's 250th birthday makes plenty sense to want to celebrate, the fact that it also happened on the president's birthday and his sort of penchant for spectacle kind of hijacked or co-opted the idea a little bit and made this parade feel a little more political and less patriotic than what's historically been the case for parades of this size in the Capitol.

Shannon Lynch: Yeah, so speaking of this military parade, I'm just curious what other displays of patriotism have we seen consistently over the course of American history that have nothing to do with parades or with the military?

Ted Johnson: So you're absolutely right that national identities often get celebrated in like these big civic spectacles, like parades and festivals and world fairs, and that sort of the same thing with state fairs at the state level. You sort of bring people together to celebrate the things that make you different and the things that make your history special, your culture special.

There's this really interesting concept by a guy named, a sociologist named Bellah who was from Berkeley in the 60s. The idea is as old as, you know, French philosophers from centuries ago, was the idea of civil religion, that nations have a way of practicing being in the nation. There's sort of a belief system that resembles religion, but isn't as serious as real religion, but has all the tenets of it. Any religion you can think of has, you know, rituals and symbols and sort of canon. And Bellah's argument is that the United States has the same thing.

So the question of like what other patriotic displays are, sort of what are the other rituals that are part of our cultural heritage that still read as patriotic and that are not connected to the military. So of course things connected to The Flag, the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. I also think sort of the flag itself has become a declaration of patriotism, maybe in some corners, even a declaration American nationalism. But these are sort of symbols of patriotism that have endured but have also been co-opted.

The rituals though are more like the feeling you get when you land in the United States after being overseas for a week and that sort of coming back into the country with your passport or cheering on Team USA in the gymnastics or in swimming or basketball. Things like the 4th of July and fireworks and barbecues and hot dogs, or going to national parks and national malls. This sort of learning about the national history of the country, the people, the places that formed our current identity. And I think all of these things, especially when they require gathering or the sort of journeys to places and back to Mount Rushmore or to the Statue of Liberty or to The Grand Canyon are also these sort of journeys, these ritualistic journeys that also read as quite patriotic.

Shannon Lynch: Yeah, so I wanted to circle back on something you said earlier on nationalism being exclusive and patriotism being inclusive. I'm wondering what kind of unspoken rules we've seen throughout American history regarding who is allowed to be patriotic. For instance, I think of the example of Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter and her receiving criticism for, quote unquote, co-opting American flag and rodeo imagery.

Ted Johnson: Yeah, it's interesting. And the critique comes from both sides. It's not like there was one way to do it and then people who do it the wrong way and they're against each other. There's like a sort of normative way to it. And then everyone's variations of that exposes them to critique from different sides.

So, I think typically, look in the first naturalization order in the United States, 1790, I think it was, it said, you can become a citizen of the United State if you're a free white person of upstanding character or something, good moral character or something like that. And so that meant that the people who had the right to be patriotic, the prototypical patriot, is a person that fits the description of the kind of people Congress said is okay to come here.

So, Crispus Attucks is the first person to die, Black guy in Massachusetts, an escaped enslaved man, first person that died. Is that patriotic? Today, we would say yes, but I'm not sure that in Georgia, they were holding up pictures of Crispus Adduks saying this is why we have to go to the Brits. So, he couldn't really qualify because he didn't look the part.

And this is the part, this is where sort of nationalism, sort of the ugly elements of that can sort of get intertwined, because patriotism comes with a face sometimes. If I tell you to picture someone from a certain country, Japan or Mexico or even Canada, a sort of racialized face comes to mind. And in a nation as large and diverse as ours, there is no one face that captures us all. But the one that comes to mind is typically the one most associated with what it means to be patriotic. That typically means white, male, Christian, that sort of thing. And all of the survey research and political science sociality confirms that patriotism in America has a default to being white.

That said, that has been undone decade by decade as more people have fought for inclusion in the country. And so when Beyoncé does it, it's both seen as subversive. But on multiple accounts, the right sees it one way. Those on the left might say, like, how in the world could she dare claim this flag that's done so much injustice over so much time? But you don't have to only love the country. You don't only have to critique it. You get to do both. And that expansion of what it means to be patriotic also expands who can claim the mantle of being a patriot, or at least claiming ownership of the symbols and of belonging in the United States.

Shannon Lynch: Yeah, I think that is so crucial and so key in this conversation that you can be critical of your country and love your country at the same time. I think a lot of people have trouble holding that nuance.

So, in a recent article you authored for the Washington Post, you wrote, "patriotism is on the decline in the United States and the word itself has become contentious. It's perceived as partisan and there's a generational divide with younger Americans having far less attachment to the label and the idea. Its more garish displays are often associated with an intolerant, love it or leave it nationalism". So, looking ahead, looking to future generations, how might expressions of American patriotism evolve or change, and what opportunities exist to reimagine or broaden what it means to be patriotic today?

Ted Johnson: Yeah, it's a great question, and I think it's a question as old as the country. Who gets to be a patriot, as you sort of said earlier? And then how does that patriotism get to be demonstrated and recognized as patriotic? Some folks might look at a Juneteenth celebration as not being patriotic. I think is incredibly patriotic! I mean, Juneteenth is, I think the official name is, the Juneteenth National Independence Day, to sort of suggest it's the second founding for the country when we finally got rid of chattel slavery. And so that sort of is an expansion of patriotism. It gives it room to grow.

And so I think going forward, it will need to continuously evolve in order to match the generations of the people that are alive at the time. Patriotism should be a reflection of the People alive and not sort of this adhering to some 200-year-old practice about what they thought patriotism should look like.

That will also mean we have to be more aware of the different ways people express their belonging in America and the ways in which they do it. And civic engagement, civic education, the research shows that a lot of times, civic engagement that young people and people of color do isn't recognized as civic engagement in surveys and that sort of thing, because it's not the standard, call your senator, you know, go register people to vote. They engage in other ways, like planting community gardens or tutoring kids. And so those are also displays of patriotism because they're trying to improve the country by donating, sacrificing. And donating their time and talents to improve their communities and so forth.

So I think the next iteration of patriotism is going to be a local version that scales up rather than a national version that sort of trickles down. I think that the next versions of patriotism won't be uncritical. They will have space to critique the United States and to sort of wave the flag as well. The next version of it will either find a new word for patriotism or reclaim the word patriot from the folks that have sort of really skewed it to only fit one set of political beliefs.

I don't know what the new word could be. I don't who the new person could be, you know, if Taylor Swift and The Rock and Beyoncé start saying we're patriots, maybe more people will claim the mantle. I think it will be more complicated than that, but it's a good sign that while young folks may not like the label that much or even like the word democracy that much, or don't believe that it can deliver as promised, they've not lost faith in the project. They've not lost faith in the American experiment or one another. And so they'll build a better version of the United States of America, just like generations before them did for themselves and posterity.

So, I think we're in good shape, but the way we love our country's got some growing up to do to match the people that we are today.

Shannon Lynch: And that's a great note to end on. This is gonna be such a wonderful episode for the 4th of July. Ted, I really appreciate you joining me today.

Ted Johnson: Yeah, thank you for having me. It's good to be here.

Heidi Lewis: This was a New America production. Shannon Lynch is our host and executive producer. Our co-producers are Joe Wilkes, David Lanham, and Carly Anderson. Social media by Maika Moulite. Visuals by Alex Briñas, and media outreach by me, Heidi Lewis. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Democracy Deciphered wherever you like to listen.