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Terri's avatar

Maybe the question should be about embarrassment, rather than pride. I still love the concept of American pride, but I have become so very embarrassed to be an American since the tRump Regime came to power.

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Jim Kuhnhenn's avatar

Pride is a complicated sentiment. We take pride in our kids - one, because they are our offspring, two, their successes redound to us. We project our desires onto them. We take pride in our work — we feed our families, put our children through school, serve a greater purpose. We take pride in our communities when they rally in the face of unimaginable disaster or when the home team shows grit and determination.

But what does it take to have pride in a nation? A nation is its history, and its people, and its leaders. I am certainly not proud of our leaders. In fact, I’m ashamed of them. I’m not proud of half the voting public who gave us these leaders. Our history is darkened by the original sin of slavery and racism and the horrors visited upon native people. And, while tempted, like you, to take pride in our freedom to express ourselves and speak truth to power, I’m quickly reminded of the shameful deal cut by Paramount, throwing its flagship news program under the bus.

But I still fly the flag from my stoop every day. Why? Because I will not yield to the MAGA world view embraced by cruel, ignorant, racist, haters who cheer the kidnapping of immigrants by masked security forces, who ignore the climate and fiscal threats we are leaving to the next generation, who shrug at our most vulnerable while enriching our most fortunate.

So, I fly that flag in sorrow, not pride. I fly it in defiance of those who want to claim it as an emblem of their own dystopia. I fly it out of faith that this era will end. Pride? A nation must earn it.

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