As a 'middle aged white guy' raised during the 60's, beginning college at the height of Civil Rights and Anti-War protests, there have historically been many, many reasons for which I have not been proud of my country.
After the past eight years, there are many MORE reasons why I am not proud of my country, and in fact very angry with my country.
After last night, and the - indeed - historic culmination of a Democratic Primary season that in itself was - indeed - historic, I have reason to be very proud of this country, at least with reference to Equal Rights.
Both Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton deserve accolades, laurels and wreaths for bringing this country to a level which appeared chimeric and unattainable for much of my life. The people of this country deserve accolades for finally rising above historic cultural expectations and perspectives, and bringing the first Female candidate and the first African American candidate to the brink of attaining the highest office in the land.
I am proud. I regret, the overwhelming background against which this wonderful watershed moment, occurs.
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Comments: 19
these neocon think that you ought to wear your pride bandena regardless of how badly the country behaves. There are many things about our history to not be proud about. Conversely we've done many things to be proud about. To just think that America is a continuous pride meter at level maximum is plain dumb. Every country has high and lows, otherwise that would not be pride. That would be normal, banal, not worthy of pride.
Regards,
Doyel I <~~~~~
Libramoon C: Let it be so.
One of the great things about this country is the right of free speech and free thought. To not use that right and blindly follow the belief that "all is well", when the standing and respect for our country in the world is plummeting is a disservice to what our forefathers worked so hard to create.
This "white guy guilt" thing is good as comedic material, but doesn't hold much water for me. Raised in the South, I have waged a personal war against racism for years. I moved to California as soon as I was old enough to be in a more multi-cultural environment. Do I feel guilty now for who I am? No way, I feel more vindicated by these current events than anything.
Thanks for the post, Peter. While this idea is in a lot of people's minds, you have managed to put it into words quite well.
I live in northern Georgia...a few miles from North Carolina. My wife and I have houses in both places. My life long friend Dave came to visit the other day and we drove to the farmhouse in North Carolina. On the way, I was telling Dave about some of the history of the area which includes, of course, the atrocity of the Trail of Tears. I had nothing to do with the gross injustice of the relocation of the Cherokee nation...but I still felt ashamed that it had happened.
I think the reason for this is that we, as a nation, have changed very little. We still harbor the same self vested interests and bigotries and we still live with a blind or veiled account of our history.
The most patriotic effort we can make as Americans is to speak up...speak out about both the good and the bad. Pat ourselves on the back for jobs well done and critically examine our mistakes and our blunders. How else can we move in a positive direction unless we do so with full accountability for all of our efforts and deeds? It is called honesty.
Well written article that almost fully (nod to Doyle) describes my feelings today. However, I have been proud of my country for most of my life (Tip of Hat to Mike "Chaos be Gooder"). The crisis of conscience I now experience has festered for the last 7 ½ years - and its high time to make the "hurt" go away.
But I must tell you that I see a new "shame" coming on. As someone who fields a network of viral e-mails each day, I cautiously report that the number of racist rants have increased during the past week. These seem to arriving from paranoid right-wingers.
As a nation, we will probably be forced to purge ourselves of the worst of these peccadilloes before I can be truly proud.
As Michael just advised, " ...speak out about both the good and the bad." I am.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Barack is going all the way. I've felt it from the beginning and only wavered when Rev. Wright reared in ugly head. Then we/he seemingly dealt with that hydra.
Historic times these: "Barack to the Future."
Terrific post! You describe what many of us have experienced, particularly the past 8 years.