"The only title in our democracy
superior to that of President is the title of citizen."
--Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
I don’t usually think of myself as very patriotic. Sure:
I fly an American flag outside my house. I stand up and take off my hat at a
baseball game and sing the national anthem when the chords of that ancient song
are played. I choke up when watching an old World War II movie, as the actors
make a gallant and courageous stand, and the corny music swells and I get all
teary. I vote whenever I can, hope my fellow citizens do as well.
But I think it’s rare to witness a deeper patriotic moment
and remember how precious the title of American citizen really is. How blessed I
am to have the rights and the responsibilities that accompany citizenship. How
grateful I am to call America home, even as I’m frustrated at how we sometimes
fail to live up to the ideals that are supposed to embody our place in the
world.
Values: like justice, fairness, and freedom. Defending
the powerless. Opening our arms to those who flee persecution and poverty. Liberty
and justice for all, everyone, no one left out.
So, it surprised me on a recent summer night at how
moved I was to watch a group of twenty immigrants take the oath of American
citizenship. It happened, of all places, on a baseball field, on a warm and
humid August night, between innings at a minor league game in Dayton, Ohio. The
Dayton Dragons are celebrating their twentieth anniversary this summer and to
mark that birthday they treated me and 7,909 other fans to an unexpected lesson
in patriotism.
Assembled by the third base line was a group of twenty
people: men and women, of many colors and backgrounds, from many countries, all
so excited to be taking this profound step. In the front row, two women wore
hijabs, traditional dress for some observant Muslims. One woman enthusiastically
waved an American flag. In the back row, a tall man wore a jaunty black hat and
had a smile a mile wide. Before them stood a federal judge, incongruous in his formal
black robes. And then the crowd: we all stood up and the stadium grew quiet and
those soon to be citizens raised their rights hands, and said in unison….
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and
entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince,
potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a
subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of
the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic….”
What struck me as the most powerful promise in that
short oath, was that each person was asked to respect, honor and defend the
United States Constitution, the circa 1789 collection of ultimate laws that
bind us all together as Americans. Those new citizens were not asked to honor a
person or a political party or the President or the Congress or any other
government official. They were not required to be liberal or conservative, to
say they’d live in just a red state or a blue state in the future.
There was no
religious test in the oath, no requirement that if you come to the United
States and seek to call it home you have to be a Christian or a Jew or a
Muslim, or claim no faith. That oath didn’t ask if they’d come here to flee
political persecution or crime or poverty or to go to college or to start a business
or to just be free.
All the oath required was that they each agree to live
by the democratic norms and hopes spelled out in the 230-year old document that
binds us as a nation; and that they will always defend the laws contained
within it, the Constitution, even with their lives, if necessary.
To see these men and women freely make those promises:
for me, that embodied true patriotism.
Patriotism in action, patriotism as love
of country, of democracy, of the rule of law. And not because some particular
person occupies the Oval Office. Presidents come and go, to be judged by
history and the goodness of the country that they leave behind, or not.
Patriotism: not partisanship, not everyone for themselves but instead, E
Pluribus Unum, from many, one.
Patriotism: not the posing kind, the mere sporting of a
cheap metal flag pin on a lapel, or preening before a bank of American flags at
a press conference, as if these actions alone makes one a patriot.
No. Real patriotism
always runs deep, in in the living, in the doing. Patriotism sees one’s
political opponent, not as an enemy of the people, but instead the loyal
opposition, Patriotism is generous, invites people from around the world to
join the United States, to bring with them their cultures, adding to the rich tapestry
of the American experiment. Patriotism is found in actual service to fellow
citizens: in the armed forces, in volunteerism, in caring for your neighbor.
When’s the last time you really appreciated your life
as a citizen and could you or I live up to the oath of citizenship? Patriotic
questions--we all should ask and we all should answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment