Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
There once was a time when it was assumed different groups would celebrate the 4th of July in their own ways. Back before Jackie Robinson broke into the Major Leagues, the Homestead Grays would sell out their game, for their fans on America’s big day, and the Brooklyn Dodgers would pack Ebbits Field with their faithful. Ironically, 1947 was the first Independence Day celebration televised on the National Mall, with a crowd estimated at 300,000 in attendance. One can wager there was a homogeneous quality in the turnout as veteran’s groups, military bands and fireworks provided the gist of the day’s entertainment.
Of course, back in 1947, the way white, Christian America counted its blessings on the 4th differed greatly from how the rest of its citizens calculated what their piece of pie amounted to. In 1946, a mob of white men shot and killed two young black couples in Walton County Georgia. The murder shocked the nation, including President Harry Truman, who was particularly upset one of the victims was a returning WWII veteran. Although, like every other lynching before it, nobody was prosecuted, the crime stimulated the Truman Administration to propose and make a legislative priority Federal anti-lynching measures. And while southern Democrats predictably opposed the bills, a national consensus began to emerge in opposition to mob violence against African-Americans.
Yet and still, on July 4, 1947 two Americas celebrated the nation’s independence separately, different cookouts, different baseball games…. different drinking fountains and bathrooms. Most fundamentally, in 1947, a black family of various generations in Atlanta would down their hot dogs or 4th of July bbq chicken with the bitter knowledge nobody, from great-grandma to dad to a nephew returning from battle in Europe, had ever been allowed to cast a meaningful vote. Thirteen years before JFK’s election and entire family trees were disenfranchised from the signature activity the 4th of July celebrated. Think about that.
Much has changed in the 72 years since television first captured DC’s 4th of July celebration. Most all of what the Civil Rights movement accomplished has surely been reflected on Independence Days that now highlight a far more unified America, unified in the crowds on the Mall, unified in the stands at Dodger games, unified at drinking fountains… and voting booths. What has been gained in the span of an average person’s lifetime may not be enough, but it’s plenty, and most in this country accepted the changes were for the good, a tangible commentary on the ability of America to pursue its promise. And the 4th of July celebrations on the Mall have fully embodied these sentiments, keeping to a strictly non-partisan theme, delivering a message rigorously attuned to the notion our country’s freedoms belong to everybody, and celebrating our progress is nothing if not an excuse to unify us. This has been clear, unequivocal and without controversy…. until now.
That Trump equates the 4th almost exclusively with militarism is not surprising. That he wants one of his rallies to eclipse our annual celebration of national unity and make things all about him is par for his course, and the GOP falling silently in line with his plans is, sadly, nothing out of their new normal. However, why his wretched core of supporters so welcome such an ugly usurpation of a great tradition is what should make the rest of us, the majority of Americans, madder than hell; it’s all about bringing back the good old days before others were included into the narrative Trumpists claim as only theirs. A Trump rally whitens the Mall and assures one group will be represented, and that’s just fine with them. This will be a throwback 4th, just the way MAGAites want it. Nationalism….. not patriotism. It’s not about who you love, it’s about who you’re now liberated to despise.
One could offer Trump the benefit of the doubt, even as he rolls tanks into DC for his “yuge” event, and hope the words he offers are non-partisan and respectful of the occasion’s dignity. In fact, from his own parochial viewpoint, really all he ever takes in the world from, a speech filled with soaring verbiage in support of American unity now under so much stress is a political no-brainer. The impossibly low expectations most all of us now grade this President with would render any sort of good faith effort to keep things apolitical a Trump triumph.
Alas, I wouldn’t bet the holiday utility bill on that scenario. After three years we simply know this guy all too well. First, it’s now unlikely any speechwriter in this West Wing cares to indulge our nation’s better angels; next, one can be sure, once he gets going within the glow of nihilist energy so reliably created by MAGA throngs, Trump will exhibit little discipline for being leashed to a script he always struggles to read. So we can count on ugly, divisive gibberish to stain what heretofore has been a day to celebrate the progress of our national journey. Flyovers, tanks and Trump megalomania with your cheeseburger and cold Budweiser.
Studied from the removed objectivity history always imparts, this 4th of July fiasco may well be deemed a watershed event of the Trump era. Either way – as the apex of his tenure, when he went too far and galvanized the majority by staining the nation’s most important annual rite, or when he solidified his minority’s grasp on power and ushered in militarism to bury democracy while most shrugged it off as yet just another hideous indignity – what happens on Thursday will be welcomed by millions who, at the heart of it, are a cult of regression, zealous intolerants fixated on remaking things the way they used to be…. back when. “Promises kept” is simply subtext for a President who shares their dementia, and will ruin our nation to pursue it. Enjoy your drumstick! BC