The unsteadiness of America's patriotism

21 years ago, the events of 9/11 left a nation deeply wounded. The shock of the attacks on American soil reverberated across the entire world, and it changed life as Americans knew it. At the same time, its societal response included a heightened sense of national pride. Even people hesitant to support America due to their various reasons gave their expressions of support: Sarah Vowell writes in "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" that "In September, people across the country and all over the world- including, bless them, the Canadians, and they are born sick of us- were singing the American national anthem." But after a while, that sense of unity and community dissolved. Society once again became divided, as stark disagreements gave rise to the polarized nature of America today. 

While the case of the aftermath of 9/11 can be looked at as a broad example, this set-up can be noticed as a pattern. The Fourth of July is a case in point: when we discussed in class what celebrating America's independence means to us, many shared that they have no particular interest in it. Further, we noted the irony of the holiday- that it feels like one day in a year that people allow themselves to just forget about all of the ongoing injustices, tragedies, and tribulations of our nation so as to feign their country's superiority. Because after that day is when the civil chaos resumes.

Too often, after another mass shooting in America, infographic activism goes into overdrive on social media. Because how hard is it to tap your thumb on a screen a few times to prove that you care? To educate, to spread awareness, to virtue signal- whatever the case may be, after only a few days, things return to a "normal" state. When I look down at my screen, I see the content of my friends and family being restored in the place of repetitive Canva designs. People start to forget again.

Today, we are at a crossroads- should society be superficial and only put in the effort to ally when we are impacted so acutely? What, then, are we waiting for?

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