Friends,
Today I want to talk about the real meaning of patriotism.
It’s the exact opposite of the version peddled by Trump and his white Christian nationalists — that the nation is losing its whiteness or its dominant religion, that too many foreigners are crossing our borders, that men are competing in women’s sports or children are using school bathrooms inconsistent with their sex at birth, or that teachers are not celebrating the nation’s history.
To the contrary:
True patriots don’t fuel racist, religious, or ethnic divisions.
Patriots aren’t homophobic or sexist.
They aren’t blind to social injustices, whether ongoing or embedded in American history. They don’t ban books or prevent teaching about the sins of the nation’s past.
They don’t abduct hard-working people and put them in prison camps in the Everglades.
They don’t rob from the poor to reward the rich. They don’t cut Medicaid and food stamps so the wealthiest Americans get a tax cut.
True patriots are not uncritically devoted to America. They are devoted instead to the ideals of America — the rule of law, equal justice, voting rights and civil rights, freedom of speech and assembly, freedom from fear, and democracy.
True patriots don’t have to express patriotism in symbolic displays of loyalty like standing for the national anthem, waving the American flag, and shouting “USA! USA!” They express patriotism in taking a fair share of the burdens of keeping the nation going, sacrificing for the common good.
This means paying their fair share of taxes rather than lobbying for lower taxes or seeking tax loopholes.
It means refraining from making large political contributions that corrupt American democracy.
It means blowing the whistle on abuses of power even at the risk of losing one’s job.
It means volunteering time and energy to improving one’s community and country.
It means standing up to tyranny — protesting, boycotting, organizing, engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience.
And never, ever losing hope.
Patriots don’t make baseless claims that millions of people vote fraudulently, and seek laws that make it harder for people to vote.
Patriots strengthen democracy, defend the right to vote, and ensure that more Americans are heard.
Patriots understand that when they serve the public, their responsibility is to maintain and build public trust in the institutions of democracy.
They don’t put personal ambition above their love of America. They don’t try to hold power after voters have chosen not to reelect them. They don’t attempt a coup.
They don’t make money off their public offices.
They don’t usurp the powers of Congress. They don’t defy the courts. They don’t try to take over universities or law firms.
When serving on the Supreme Court, they recuse themselves from cases where they may appear to have a conflict of interest.
America’s problem ism’t that the nation is losing its whiteness or its dominant religion or that too many foreigners are crossing our borders or that men are competing in women’s sports or teachers are not celebrating the nation’s history.
Our problem is that too many Americans, including the person who now holds the highest office in the land, don’t know the true meaning of patriotism — and what it requires from all of us.
Robert Bernard Reich is an American professor, author, lawyer, and political commentator. He worked in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, and served as Secretary of Labor from 1993 to 1997 in the cabinet of President Bill Clinton. He was also a member of President Barack Obama's economic transition advisory board. Reich has been the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley since January 2006. He was formerly a lecturer at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a professor of social and economic policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University.
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