Patriotism

I have my earth flag flying over my door. In 2002 on the 4th of July I flew an Irish, a French and an Earth Flag from my porch in Baltimore.

Its difficult to encompass the strange twists of events in this country since "911."

Patriotism has always been a difficult pill to swallow, and yet I consider myself firmly American. Not always proudly. All the best sources indicate more than one million Iraqi civilian deaths can be attributed to our war in Iraq. I am not proud to be identified with such indiscriminate slaughter.

People here in this country really went nuts over 911. Yet the 911 death toll was a drop in the bucket compared to the million who died in internecine power struggles in Nigeria between 1966-70. http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat2.htm#Rwanda I have often wondered what makes American deaths so much more valued than those suffered in other lands, particularly non-European lands. That's a piece of patriotism I have serious trouble with.

Even when I was a kid, I felt conflicted at the Memorial Day parade. I didn't like the martial atmosphere then either, but the marching music was compelling. And all the people coming together to celebrate.

On 911, my main concern was to locate my daughter. She was working in an Egyptian-owned Subway in Baltimore where, since the month of Ramadan had just recently transpired, and the owners had broadcast Arabic music during the holy month. I had visions of some fool entering the store in a random fit of rage and letting loose with a semi-automatic. I was very relieved to find her safe.

We couldn't figure out what to do with ourselves, so we went to a mall and ate ice cream because that was the only place that was open. Surreal. We decided to give blood, so we went to the Red Cross and stood in the endless line of other folks who were at a loss as to what to do with themselves. The man just in front of us was trying to emulate Bruce Springsteen, bandana and bluejeans: muscled.

He looked at me and started muttering something about how "those moslems and their mosques better watch their backs." I responded very clearly and distinctly, hoping that others in the line would hear, "Sir, have you ever met a Moslem, or a person from the Middle East?" "No." "Well then," I replied, "let me introduce you to my daughter who was born in Egypt."

He turned his head away, paused for a moment to collect himself, and said, "Somedays I can be a real asshole, and this appears to be one of 'em." Then he shook my daughter's hand.

Yeah. I do enjoy seeing folks come together to celebrate. I am moved when they mourn together also. But when they decide to make enemies out of folks they don't know, wrap their fear up in hatred then shroud it in red, white and blue--then infringe on the very liberties that this country stands for--count me out.

The most patriotic action I took this year was wearing a chador at the gates of the Kirtland Air Force Base (here in Albuquerque) at a demonstration against the war in Iraq(Albuquerue Raging Grannies at City Council 9/17/07). The cops tried to tell me there was a law against covering my face in a protest. I held my ground and offered to show them my face and my ID to indicate that I was not hiding anything, but rather trying to "show" something. I was demonstrating my solidarity with the innocent victims of our foreign policy.

I ended up getting an apology from the Chief of Police.

Go figure!

P.S. My apologies for not properly crediting STOP THE WAR MACHINE and PETER NEILS for photographs on this piece earlier. I am still trying to figure how to blog...http://www.stopthewarmachine.org/events/pictures/15SEP2007/PeterNeils/index.htm