This picture is from a series of very moving pictures that can be found here. This one was my favorite and has the captions: These two boys waited as a long line of adults greeted Senator Obama before a rally on Martin Luther King Day in Columbia, S.C. They never took their eyes off of him. Their grandmother told me, "Our young men have waited a long time to have someone to look up to, to make them believe Dr. King's words can be true for them." Jan. 21, 2008.
I have never been an overly patriotic person, maybe because I grew up in a South Asian household that dreamed of returning to India, but the role of the US military world-wide has always dampened any belief in the strength or character of the leaders of this "great" country. Despite growing up hearing, "well if you don't like it here, you can always go back to where you came from" more times than I would like to recall, I have always had a love hate relationship with this country that my parents decided to move to in the early 1970's. I claim a US citizenship, but have never felt like a real citizen as most of my life, no one has believed that I am. So yeah, it makes being patriotic for a country that doesn't really see you as part of it, difficult.
But despite my cynicism, I have always worked for the benefit of America, partly because that is the only kind of work available for liberal arts major, but also because I believe in the importance of civic duty. I was a school teacher in some of the most underfunded schools in America that are failing from neglect and racism, I have worked in non-profits and now I am a political writer. Despite my cynicism, like many Americans, I was still committed to making this country a better place. But as a result of the Bush Administrations regressive policies, irrelevant of my commitment to the public sector, I am in debt, I have no money to invest or buy a house or even think about raising a family and, oh yeah, I don't have health insurance. My country has betrayed me.
I voted for Barack Obama because all of these issues are ones that he has talked about and I believe he will change or affect in some capacity that will reinstall the good that comes out of civic minded work. I don't want to regret that I went to college, I don't want to be hateful that I worked for a public school district and I don't want to go into debt if goddess forbid something happens to me or a loved one and we don't have health insurance.
The American dream is bullshit and a ploy to ignore the actual conditions and struggles of people's lives in this country. My parents came to this country for a better life and we have lived a life of struggle and that struggle continues as my parents retire with no savings and limited social security. But even my cynical father said to me last week inspired, I am willing to give Barack Obama a chance because he on some level sees me and understands the struggle of immigrants. The election of Barack Obama will not be the end of our struggle for equitable rights for the people of color and immigrants in this country, but I do believe he is a step in the right direction.
I voted for Obama because I agree with his stance on reproductive justice and will fight to protect my right to choose, I think he will work to get people like me health insurance, I believe that he will fight for me to keep more money in my pocket and most importantly because he wants to begin to talk about stopping the illegal and expensive war in Iraq. I am also voting for Barack Obama because as a person of color in this country, I have never believed or felt that I belonged and I have watched young people of color through my work as a teacher never believe they have a shot. Is Obama's presidency going to all of a sudden solve racism in inner city and rural America? Probably not, but it will be much more effective working to hold someone accountable that at least on some level can understand where you are coming from. I, like many others, am not voting for Barack Obama simply because he is black, but it does mean something different and special to me, to my community, to my friends and to my students. I am still not feeling amazingly patriotic, we have a long way to go, and even writing this post is making me feel a little nauseous (where did radical anti-establishment Samhita go???), but I do think we have the chance to move this country in a better direction. At least I hope so.
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well said, bravo!
Oh my GOD Samhita!! I feel exactly the same way. All my life I have been suffering from some sort of culture clash but I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little excited about this election. Truth be told, in spite of the fact that I do not consider myself american, I'm still kind of anxious to see what Obama will do for those like myself. It's weird though.. no one has ever stated the way I feel quite like you. It made me feel like I'm not alone THANK YOU!!
I think its helpful to think of electoral politics as harm reduction. The way this system is set up and entrenched in oppression won't allow much real social change to come out of the white house, no matter who is in office. And I get that its important to support someone and vote for them but its only harm reduction. Its picking up the clean needle as you inject yourself with heroine, its still heroine. You're voting to improve the system but its still a fucked up system. So that's great that folks feel inspired by Obama and I would just really encourage people to not become complacent with the institutional oppression that will continue after he's in office. Real change will have to come from the only place it ever has, the streets and hearts of the people.
It's ironic that the same people who don't believe in women's and racial equality were outraged when Michelle Obama said she was never proud of her country. What is there to be proud of for women of color in America? Very, very little, if anything. Women and people of color have worked extremely hard to get to where we are today, and we still have a long way to go. No one should have to be patriotic in a country that continues to oppress and marginalize them. But I agree that this election has really made me hopeful about the state of our country. I think electing Barack Obama as president will be a first step in ending the neoconservative, racist, classist, and sexist ways of running America.
Interesting perspective, Samhita. Mine is a bit different. My parents were also immigrants from a devleoping non-Western country, but they and all the other immigrants their age of my ethnic group have always been 110% gung-ho American patriotic (and many are Republican, to boot, but that's another story). Perhaps it was because we come from a country with several battling ethnic, cultural and religious groups (and we were one of the small, suffering minorities) and my parents were elated to move to a country where there was at least the pretense of life and liberty for all, irrespective of identity.
Now, we all know that the working reality has been very different for many "power"-minority groups in this country--women, non-Europeans, non-Christians, gays, etc. But, at least there were groups devoted to realizing this American "pretense" and turning it into a reality. At least there was a semblance of accountability, checks and balance (even if often abused), and official barriers to police brutality. My parents' country can claim none of these things; as was seen in the recent elections of Kenya--a country that many have considered to be amongst the most modernized and progressive of African countries--all bloody hell can break loose with impunity in many countries.
I have never been patriotic to the point of xenophobia as a minority of Americans (including immigrants, I might add) believe is necessary to demonstrate patriotism. I have often criticized government policies and actors. But I have always been very, very grateful to have been born in America. Every time I return from a trip to my country of origin, I breathe a tremendous sigh of relief that although here I may be mocked for my non-Western appearance or cultural background, the chances that I might be maimed or killed because of my ethnicity or religion have, in America, been drastically reduced.
All countries have work to do, and I'm happy to continue contributing to that work in any way I can. Voting as a pleased-to-be-American or as a not-so-thrilled-to-be American is, either way, and important step towards that work.
This is a side note, but you CAN work for corporate America with a liberal arts degree. A number of people from my liberal arts college work (or I should say 'worked') for Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, etc. My first job out of college was in the Marketing department of a huge international law firm. I have a degree in English (with a concentration in creative writing) and History.
That said, I ran screaming from that job less than 3 months after I started, straight to the nonprofit sector, where I have been ever since. World's Biggest Value Clash, that was.
So please don't sell yourself short. You're not working for the good of our country because that's all there is for liberal arts majors! If you're like me, you're doing it because you think it's the best way to use your talents and knowledge while living according to your values, not because you're unqualified for other work.
"I claim a US citizenship, but have never felt like a real citizen as most of my life, no one has believed that I am. So yeah, it makes being patriotic for a country that doesn't really see you as part of it, difficult."
I'm sorry but this is a cop-out.
And I'm speaking as a Native American who is continually asked about what "country" I come from or if I speak english.
I'm still patriotic but not to a Nation. I'm patriotic to the revolutionary ideals the Founders tried to instill in this country. Those are the truths we all should be patriotic for right now. And the revolution never ended, it is a continual fight. The elitists certainly never stopped fighting for their privilege. It is we as a people who gave up our fight for equality.
That is why we are in this spot now. And the fight won't end when Obama is elected. It is only the people's first warning shot.
I don't think that's a cop-out. It's taken me a long time to actually feel patriotic, too, because I was always treated as so different than everyone else (though I'm not a person of color). When I visited my ancestral home country in Europe a few years ago, I felt much more at home because no one treated me like I was weird. Plus, there've been two different kinds of patriotism for a long time - the jingoistic flags-everywhere, chest-thumping, America-can-do-no-wrong kind, and the more subtle and quiet kind where one loves their country but recognizes its faults too. The latter is harder to spot in yourself, I think, because the former is considered by a lot of people (including the media) to be "more authentic". Yet how do we differentiate between the two when they both bear the same name? I don't speak for Samhita, obviously, but for me, I've always been patriotic but didn't necessarily know I was or feel like I was because of that.
"When I visited my ancestral home country in Europe a few years ago, I felt much more at home because no one treated me like I was weird."
And where should I go to fit in? If not the ancestral ground I'm standing on now?
But all this talk about ancestry is against what the Founders were fighting for in 1776. They realized that equality for all people no matter where they originated form or who they were, was an ideal worth fighting for but it wouldn't be won with one war, it is a continual fight and we are still fighting for it. Revolution is never a comfortable place to be. We have forgotten that, which is why Americans seem to have fragmented into these little oases of comfort.
"Plus, there've been two different kinds of patriotism for a long time - the jingoistic flags-everywhere, chest-thumping, America-can-do-no-wrong kind, and the more subtle and quiet kind where one loves their country but recognizes its faults too."
Stop watching TV or reading major newspapers. They are all owned by corps pushing their own agenda. They LIE. And anyone who is interviewed on TV is coached by the on-scene newscasters. Its entertainment. I've seen it done.
There are a lot more people like me in America then not.
When I voted today, I stood there, my head surrounded by a cheap cardboard box (to keep out the bad thoughts?) and stared at a scantron sheet. It looked a bit like an SAT with only one question. It made me feel like a child again and that's what voting in this country is: Infantalizing.
Shit, even when I was done it didn't stop: They gave me a happy little GOOD JOB sticker. It's a great reflection of our "There's no wrong answer! Everyone is a winner! Participation Award!" politics where of course there's no wrong answer because there's only one answer on the test.
I swear the thing sneered at me when I fed it into what looked like a giant shredding machine. The guy monitoring my democratic excercise routine (FEEL THOSE LATS! BEND THOSE HIPS! D-E-M-O-C-R-A-C-Y!) even patted me on the back, took my hand, and guided me to the exit, like I'd just woken up from a tranquilized nap after a traumatizing surgery.
I voted for Obama. I'm not proud I did. I did it because I lived through the last eight years like the rest of us. I did it because I spent a month in jail after a feminist political action in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 days of psychosis went horridly wrong. I did it because I saw the successful Global Justice movement gutted when we were forced to turn over the keys to the anti-war movement. I did it because I was on the front-lines of protest when the bombs fell and saw few willing to actually go the distance necessary to stop the war. I did it because I spent time doing mutual aid and organizing in New Orleans after Katrina and saw Anderson Cooper and the rest of the crowd pack their bags and go home when the flood waters receded and all that remained was what was before: a city under attack from years of racism, neglect, and active destruction by private interests like every other city in America. I did it because my hometown of DC just saw its school system privatized because it's the "rational", "market" thing to do. I did it because of the financial collapse and the complete lack of real alternatives being discussed.
But I didn't do it because I thought that voting for a Democratic ticket would change any of that.
I did it because I'm hoping that some of the people who started thinking about hope are going start building dreams that go beyond the ballot and putting up a resistance that goes beyond wearing a look of outrage, smuggness, or whatever screwed-up facial expression that most liberals in this country contorted themselves into over the last eight years.
I did it because I am acting in good faith and I I am expecting you all to make demands, apply pressure, and start the long-haul work of forcing change from the bottom up, not because I am waiting for someone else to save us.
I am an anarchist and I voted and *my* hope is that I don't regret this.
Perspicuous and inspiring, thanks.
I understand why many people voted for Obama. In all honesty, I hope he wins. I however could not bring myself to vote for what I see as false hope. I find representational politics distancing from the real issues and full of spectacle. Obama has the potential to make small reforms for this country, but the real change will not happen through voting. We need a participatory movement not a passive one, based only on voting. I get so frustrated that people get so riled up to vote once every few years, but what I want people to get riled up about are the issues confronting their communities. I want people to get excited enough to protest, to organize and to find their own solutions. We must do more than vote. Plus, the other things we can do to organize are a lot more fun than voting. No feelings of standardized testing when you are organizing community gardens, cooking food for food not bombs or marching in the streets.
Voting and protesting etc are NOT mutually exclusive. Everyone can do both, and though I sympathize with your criticisms, I think everyone should do both. Obama will bring benefit to this country, even if it is marginal. For example, the opportunity to purchase affordable health-care and have rights over one's own body, though not revolutionary or particularly romantic, should warrant a tick in a box.
Sorry this is a little random, but did this post originally have more photos? I saw one this morning (could swear it was here) of an older African-American woman watching Obama give a speech. There was so much emotion on her face, and I wanted to see it again. It really captured the emotion of his campaign for me. Do you happen to have a link? Thanks.
Here's the URL
http://www.feministing.com/archives/011973.html
I love those pictures too!