Keith Benson

Civics, Citizenship, and Social Education

11.16.2006
Dr. Beth Rubin

What should schools be teaching about patriotism? Should schools teach students to be
patriotic? What are the different opinions voiced in this special issue, and where do you
fall?

Gloria Ladson Billings, at the very beginning of her article, “Once Upon a Time

When Patriotism Was What You Did”, quotes James Baldwin relating to his love of

America, and his insistence on criticism about America as an expression of that love.

That quote, and the subject of the weekly response, compelled me to also quote James

Baldwin as it is relevant to my response. In Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Lowen

inserted the James Baldwin quote, “American history is longer, more various, more

beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” As true as his

comment seems to me, it puts the teaching of patriotism in a precarious position.

How can patriotism be encouraged if the truth about the United States is taught to

students? How can we teach that America is a beacon of hope, and at the same time,

teach students about historically accurate events like Gen. Amherst’s government

approved biological warfare initiated against the Native Americans? American History is

filled with atrocious events initiated by Americans themselves, yet patriotism still seems

to be a desired goal to be achieved within the classroom.

The “Editor’s Page” in Patriotism Edition of the Phi Beta Kappan, writes, “My

dad would have walked off a cliff if Ike asked him to, but he also understood the rights

that the Constitution guarantees all U.S. citizens.” I don’t believe that kind of

“patriotism” exists, to the same degree, in America today as it did back in the 1950’s. In a
time where dissent, or criticism of America would have you branded a Communist, as

Martin Luther King was by J. Edgar Hoover, today, it seems in many areas in the country,

dissention is not as castigated as it once was.

In the coastal regions of the United States; areas near major cities, the so-called

“Blue States”, diversity, and appreciation of it, seems to be endorsed; unlike other

landlocked sections of the country; the “Red States.” Joel Westhmeimer, about Diane

Ravitch’s article writes, “She points out that educators stand strong in their belief that

children’s self-esteem is linked to knowledge and appreciation of the ancestral cultural

but not to the United States, where they live and one day will vote and raise children.”

Typically, in the “Blue State” regions of the country, where people are more diverse, the

rabid, hijacked form of patriotism that Billings described is less prevalent. Ravitch

suggests the people who are most patriotic, are more likely to be tolerant of other’s

background and diversity. I’m not sure how accurate that comment is. I’m not sure

homosexual lifestyles are as accepted in Kansas, as they are in California; and I’m not

sure the influx of Mexican immigration is as acceptable in Utah as it is in New York. I

venture to comment, that homogenous environments, like the “Red States” of America,

are places where people are most “pro-American” and “patriotic” – which is exactly what

makes those areas the most xenophobic.

Ravitch writes that teaching patriotism, is teaching students about America and

the appreciation thereof, should be a welcomed practice within the classroom. And she

writes, “students who study American history will learn about the sacrifices of previous

generations who sought to safeguard our liberties and improve society, and they will learn

about the men and women of all races and backgrounds who struggled to create a land of
freedom, justice and opportunity.” It is interesting to note, the people who Ravitch is

describing in that passage, are people who were viewed, while in their lives here in

America, as un-patriotic and un-American. What a paradox.

Gladson-Billings’, article was one in which I could relate to more than the others.

She writes about her view of patriotism and her love for American; as an African

American woman. While Chester Finn writes that in order for our American children to

know who they are, they should be taught “about America’s Founders, about their ideals,

and about the character, courage, vision and tenacity which they acted. From that

inspiring history, true patriotism cannot help but grow.” As it may not have occurred to

Mr. Finn, America’s cultural landscape is no longer solely comprised of white Americans.

As may be news to Mr. Finn, some African American students, may not be inspired by

what most of the Founding Fathers stood for. It is both possible and plausible, that an

honest portrayal of the lives of the Fathers’ may anger, and further alienate them from

Finn’s patriotic vision.

As Billings communicates, patriotism is viewed differently in the collective minds

of African Americans and, as I am sure, other minority groups. While African American’s

do generally love this nation, we do, arguably more than any other ethnic group in this

country, recognize the irony and skepticism in our appreciation of the United States.

There aren’t very many African Americans who, publicly at least, boast of the glory of

America; as most realize it could be viewed as insulting to many African Americans.

Billings mentions at length the inactivity, and maybe disinterest, exhibited by our

American government toward the residents of, largely African American, New Orleans’

expense. She writes, “How can one muster a sense of loyalty when it is apparent that
circumstances of race, class, and gender can easily leave one stranded on a rooftop or

freeway overpass?” What many patriotism-emphasizing people many not cognizant of, is

that fact that our students, much like us, are indeed aware of inequality and xenophobia

America historically exhibits toward people who are different.

Personally, patriotism in my lessons takes a backseat to truth. I try to be as honest,

and no-biased in teaching a history lesson as I can. While I do emphasize to my students

who are African American, Puerto Rican and Dominican, that they are all citizens of

American, and entitled to all of the rights and opportunities due any other citizen, I

cannot say they all respond receptively to that information. Collectively, my students

view themselves more as “Camdenites” than they do Americans; much like the colonists

viewed themselves more as citizens of their respective states, than Americans.

In closing, time will tell if taught of infused patriotism makes students want to

change things in this country to make it better, or if it will make Americans complacent in

their feelings that America is great. In my view, it is complacency itself that is patently

un-American.