By Marie Noire
Patriotism. Until now that term has only been applied to
the Fourth of July, veterans of wars that were fought before I was even a
twinkle in my mother’s eye, and the occasional trip to the theater for Les
Miserables. I never considered
myself to be a patriot. Oh I loved my
country well enough… waved my little American flag during the Olympics and was
Betsey Ross for Halloween once as a child.
But I was never interested in politics; consistently fell asleep during
social science class in middle school, and thought of the Revolutionary War as
a stroke of good luck. I was one of the
first people to joke about this country being the unofficial policeman of the
world, sticking our collective nose where it didn’t belong, and generally being
a busybody. I agreed with British and
French friends who sometime declared that America just had to do
everything bigger and better to show off… I was one of the people joking that
if Bush were elected president I was defecting to Canada.
That
sentiment, as well as several others, has changed since the events that took
place on September 11th, 2001.
Like quite a few people, I was awoken out of a sound sleep by a frantic
friend on the phone telling me that New York was being blown up. In that stunned moment, as I watched a city
that I know and love be attacked by some cowardly and, at the time, faceless
terrorist… I felt a strange and indignant power swell up within me. The urge to hurt whoever had done this to my
country was near overwhelming. No one
does this to the United States. No one.
Now,
flags are flying everywhere. There are
kids outside of my father’s house with makeshift signs that read “Honk for USA”
and the regular sound of car horns is testament to the feelings riding high
now. The Star-Spangled Banner means
more now than just the start of a baseball game. In the pet store I work at, several puppies and kittens have been
purchased and given names like Courage, Rescue, Uncle Sam, and Glory. Patriotism is no longer reserved for federal
holidays anymore. That very power that
I felt on September 11th has distributed itself among the entire
nation and made us feel, now more than ever, that we are united against our
enemies. White or black… Christian,
Jew, or Muslim… city-dweller or suburbanite… high school mall-rat or executive
CEO… man, woman, or child… we are the United States of America. We were founded on the idea that all men
(and women) are created equal and are entitled to live as we see fit so long as
we do not infringe upon the freedom of others. That is why immigrants flocked here by the thousands in the 19th
century… why both minorities and women can now vote… why a kid from the wrong
side of the tracks can, through true grit and determination make his way to
being a millionaire… and that is why Osama bin Laden hates us.
In the
years to come, maybe there will be reflection that we have acted too hastily or
too angrily in our retaliation… or maybe we will be applauded for the path we
so steadfastly tread. We have fought
wars before and our patriotism ran high, World War II being a prime example…
but this time, when our own homes and loved ones are threatened by a religious
zealot who somehow has come to think we are evil incarnate… the patriotism will
run higher than it has ever been for anyone alive today. As during the Revolutionary War, we are
fighting for our freedom… but we are no longer fighting face to face with
red-coated armies over taxation without representation. Now we are fighting for our lives, for the
peace of mind that we have taken for granted… for if bin Laden had his way, we
would all be killed.
Webster’s
Dictionary defines a patriot as someone who truly loves and serves his
country. An over-simplification I
think, although very true. We love our
country, we serve our country in whatever ways we can… but now… we fight for
our country and we will not, under any circumstances, let our country
down. Not to bin Laden, or the Taliban,
or whoever else hates us for what we are.
A patriot is ever single person who gave blood to the Red Cross… every
weary rescue worker and his tired sore-footed dog at Ground Zero… every
restaurant worker in New York who offered free food and immediate service to
firemen and policemen… every college kid who collected money for the effort…
every man or woman called to arms, whether a full-time military soldier or a
National Guard volunteer… every car or home-owner displaying the stars and
stripes… every person went back to their regular routine and refused to let the
terrorists force us into hiding like petrified rabbits.
We have
already won, because we refuse to be terrorized… and that makes us all
patriots.