Bravo! Well said. I completely agree. This is our country. We are not interlopers here. I grew up very patriotic. What happened? I will continue to be thankful for being born in this coveted position. All glory goes to God for the privilege and I don't take it lightly.
As for me and my family, we have always been patriotic with generations of service members in the military and civilian ranks. I would restate your phrase as this: The narrative we settle upon is crucial. Will we regard the U.S. as racist, genocidal AND as the greatest force for human liberty on the planet? Emancipation and incorporation of African-descended people ARE monumental achievements in progress along with all others who claim the title of American. We are both - and to turn a blind eye to one is to diminish the power of the other. Holding the two two thoughts together is what gives me the most hope and appreciation for our country.
Up until about 4-5 years ago I was among the idiots who thought that black Americans can't be patriotic due to the history of the country. I was an arrogant idiot . (I am still an idiot, but a humbler one :))
Thanks Dr. Lourey. I have been screaming this. We have a black leadership that keeps us fixated on our past when 67% of our kids are raised w/o fathers to produce a pathological black culture in which we commit over half of the murders in the US each year, with 90% of the victims being us.
We produce 48% of the armed robbers, and our12 the graders have the lowest GPAs in all subjects and the worst SAT scores of all other races when we have the same brains. And our kids are suspended at higher rates, yet, instead of working on this, our elite are redoing the CR movement.
IMHO We have not adequately processed our national cultural shame (not just of racism and genocide) into a collective capacity to take responsibility moving forward, so instead it comes out as a nasty, divisive projection of blame in a struggle over historical narratives, to shame or be shamed. What a choice...
Thank you for reading, considering and giving feedback. I am glad you find something in there helpful and am always glad to discuss further esp in terms of "where do we go from here?"
Incredibly powerful, Glenn. I hope us White people shut up and let Black American voices reflect, respond and act. Happy Thanksgiving to you- and thank you.
Dr. Loury, your comments are very appropriate and valid, up to certain degrees. You seem to believe, according to your words, that America can only be seen as either a genocidal, destructive, and racist earthly hell or as the greatest hope for liberty on earth. Dr. Loury, wouldn't it be more reasonable, and more historically valid, to understand America as an enterprise that works according to how she lives up to her high ideals. All Americans should understand that, to paraphrase Langston Hughes, America will not be America when she falls short of her ideals, let alone actively contradicts her ideals as has been the historical experience of her children of color. Langston Hughes, I believe, expressed a very valid and patriotic notion as to the mode of patriotism which would serve America well: "O let America be America again-The land that never been yet-and yet must be."
Glen Loury is confused. When I saw 'black patriotism' I thought it was a new name for black nationalism. Does Loury seriously believe that black America will rally to his call. Loury is dreaming.
Today the woke and/or progressive left have a monopoly on the pre-fix 'black'. 'Black' has become the property of the middle classes (black and white), academics, writers, journalists and media personalities, what we have come to call 'woke'. Loury needs to refine his appeal, to say, the black working class, but why stop there? Why not the American working class? Loury is by his own identification a Conservative and a free marketeer, he is conflicted when he calls for equality, the free market does not, never has and never can bring about equality. Loury's appeal is bombast, an appeal to no one in particular an expression of a middle class academic/intellectual to distance himself from his milieu, to convince himself that he's still 'Glen from the block'.
"We blacks"? Retired Ivy League college professors? Hmm...I though you and Randall Kennedy had significant differences of opinion on the issues of the day. Or perhaps Brother West? Or would that be you and John McWhorter's "Omar"? Again, I'm at a loss as to the nature of the "we-ness" you presumably feel in these cases...
Bravo! Well said. I completely agree. This is our country. We are not interlopers here. I grew up very patriotic. What happened? I will continue to be thankful for being born in this coveted position. All glory goes to God for the privilege and I don't take it lightly.
As for me and my family, we have always been patriotic with generations of service members in the military and civilian ranks. I would restate your phrase as this: The narrative we settle upon is crucial. Will we regard the U.S. as racist, genocidal AND as the greatest force for human liberty on the planet? Emancipation and incorporation of African-descended people ARE monumental achievements in progress along with all others who claim the title of American. We are both - and to turn a blind eye to one is to diminish the power of the other. Holding the two two thoughts together is what gives me the most hope and appreciation for our country.
Thank you, Mr. Haskins. Your final sentence is extremely profound!
Well said; we are all Americans.
Up until about 4-5 years ago I was among the idiots who thought that black Americans can't be patriotic due to the history of the country. I was an arrogant idiot . (I am still an idiot, but a humbler one :))
I believe the courage to humility will serve us well...
Excellent post. Thank you
Amen.
Thanks Dr. Lourey. I have been screaming this. We have a black leadership that keeps us fixated on our past when 67% of our kids are raised w/o fathers to produce a pathological black culture in which we commit over half of the murders in the US each year, with 90% of the victims being us.
We produce 48% of the armed robbers, and our12 the graders have the lowest GPAs in all subjects and the worst SAT scores of all other races when we have the same brains. And our kids are suspended at higher rates, yet, instead of working on this, our elite are redoing the CR movement.
IMHO We have not adequately processed our national cultural shame (not just of racism and genocide) into a collective capacity to take responsibility moving forward, so instead it comes out as a nasty, divisive projection of blame in a struggle over historical narratives, to shame or be shamed. What a choice...
Mr. Young, that is an illuminatingly powerful insight!
Thank you for reading, considering and giving feedback. I am glad you find something in there helpful and am always glad to discuss further esp in terms of "where do we go from here?"
Incredibly powerful, Glenn. I hope us White people shut up and let Black American voices reflect, respond and act. Happy Thanksgiving to you- and thank you.
Lovely cringe. Enjoyed it immensely.
LOL. Glad I am not the only one who found it cringy.
Dr. Loury, your comments are very appropriate and valid, up to certain degrees. You seem to believe, according to your words, that America can only be seen as either a genocidal, destructive, and racist earthly hell or as the greatest hope for liberty on earth. Dr. Loury, wouldn't it be more reasonable, and more historically valid, to understand America as an enterprise that works according to how she lives up to her high ideals. All Americans should understand that, to paraphrase Langston Hughes, America will not be America when she falls short of her ideals, let alone actively contradicts her ideals as has been the historical experience of her children of color. Langston Hughes, I believe, expressed a very valid and patriotic notion as to the mode of patriotism which would serve America well: "O let America be America again-The land that never been yet-and yet must be."
Here here.
Glen Loury is confused. When I saw 'black patriotism' I thought it was a new name for black nationalism. Does Loury seriously believe that black America will rally to his call. Loury is dreaming.
Today the woke and/or progressive left have a monopoly on the pre-fix 'black'. 'Black' has become the property of the middle classes (black and white), academics, writers, journalists and media personalities, what we have come to call 'woke'. Loury needs to refine his appeal, to say, the black working class, but why stop there? Why not the American working class? Loury is by his own identification a Conservative and a free marketeer, he is conflicted when he calls for equality, the free market does not, never has and never can bring about equality. Loury's appeal is bombast, an appeal to no one in particular an expression of a middle class academic/intellectual to distance himself from his milieu, to convince himself that he's still 'Glen from the block'.
Is patriotism and nationalism the same thing?
"We blacks"? Retired Ivy League college professors? Hmm...I though you and Randall Kennedy had significant differences of opinion on the issues of the day. Or perhaps Brother West? Or would that be you and John McWhorter's "Omar"? Again, I'm at a loss as to the nature of the "we-ness" you presumably feel in these cases...