Patriotism as love of tradition makes racial-justice protest read as unpatriotic
Evidence
Traditional morality also links preservation of the past with patriotism by casting the latter not just as love of country, but as love of the way things were, which tars objections to racial and gender injustice as unpatriotic. Hence the rebuke of Colin Kaepernick’s “take a knee” protests of racialized police brutality as disrespecting American troops. Kaepernick never mentioned the troops and never directed his protest at American military undertakings. However, more than metonymy links the national anthem, football, and the military, more even than racist remonstrance to black athletes that their job is to play and dance for whites, not claim a seat at the table with them. The logic casting his protest as unpatriotic is organized by a figure of the nation as comprising traditions indemnified from criticism, including traditions of policing and of racism. — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism, 30
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Trump’s conduct consecrates the white male supremacy entrenched in traditional values — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise…, 293; Patriotism as critical attachment can be distinguished from chauvinistic nationalism; Nationalism masquerades as patriotism by claiming defensive aims — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 51 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Patriotism as critical attachment can be distinguished from chauvinistic nationalism
#complicates(0.75) - Conservative ‘common culture’ rhetoric is itself ethnic cheerleading
#corroborates(0.75) - Nationalism masquerades as patriotism by claiming defensive aims
#expands(0.72) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 51 - Patriotism and nationalism are distinct dimensions of group identification with opposing effects
#complicates(0.72) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2113