Status Quo Fragility: Part 4

My final post about status quo fragility is going to wrap it around to American culture and the false sense of patriotism we hold here. I will continue with DiAngelo's triggers of fragilities and how they apply to American patriotism.

White Fragility
Male Fragility
Christian Fragility

Now, many people when they read criticisms want to immediately launch into, well, if you don't like it, then leave! That, in itself, is an example of fragility to the American patriotism psyche. That the flag and the country in itself cannot be questioned or criticized without it being perceived as a threat. That is fragility 101.

Challenge to Objectivity--Unfortunately, patriotism in America is actually nationalism disguised with blind pride. When you inform someone that their viewpoint comes from a place of American privilege, they just cannot handle it. How dare you? They are likely a good Christian American that cares about all people! America is a melting pot full of vibrant cultures all across the world, isn't it? I am a great grandchild of immigrants! These are the deflections you will hear when American people feel attacked for expressing problematic, nationalist views.

Here is a great piece from the Huffington Post about the American Nationalism and how it effects us.

Challenge to American Codes--America, despite priding itself as an objective, immigrant-based melting pot, has some serious expectations of codes and norms.

Sitting out or otherwise not standing at attention to the national anthem is surely to cause a controversy.

Americans are in a tizzy about the pledge of allegiance not being respected in school atmospheres.

Burning or disrespecting the flag is surely to get you some negative attention.

Even the slightest hint of American criticism or questioning the flag, the anthem, the military or any other relative matter, is surely going against patriotic codes. Even if legal repercussions are not a result, social repercussions are very real. You might lose your job. You might become ousted or even physically assaulted for refusing to comply with patriotic codes.

The idolization of the flag and capitalism are so fierce, that you can expect to be called a socialist or communist if you defy it. History showed how intense this can become during the McCarthyism and the red scare.

Similar to Christianity, where God, Jesus, the cross and the church are not to be analysed or questioned, the American symbols are sacred and desecrating them in any way, including just by not observing them, is perceived as a serious threat to the fragile American identity.

Challenge to American Comfort--Americans often do not wish to be exposed to the danger of their nationalism. When such exposure does arise, it is met with defensive remarks.

If you discuss the horrors of American bombings in the Middle East, you will likely be met with a deflection of how oppressive those countries are to their people and how fortunate we are to have our privileges here with freedom.

If you discuss the horrors of American history, such as slavery, genocide, whitewashing, and really every other aspect of our history, you can expect to be met with deflections of how America has grown and the past is the past. Usually, you are met with the cries of "get over it!"

Challenging this comfort is met with serious hostility. They'll tell you, if you don't like it, get out of the country. Or their favorite is to compare us to a country, like, say North Korea. As though, two truths cannot exist--as in America's evils and North Korea's evils.

Patriotism is very much cult-like in it's every essence, as we worship our lord and savior, Old Glory.

Challenge to Colonialist Relations--You absolutely cannot have America without colonialists. You do not need to be a history major to understand and acknowledge the very brutal truth of how our country came to be,

Politicians often gain success by igniting this fear of immigration. After all, our relationship in America is, we colonize and you become colonized. Do not try to come over here and colonize us as we did you!

While most of our fear today is at black and brown immigrants, historically fear has even reached to Euroethnic immigrants. The hysteria surrounding this fear is necessary to keep the American cult alive and well.

Aside from that, many Americans are cultural colonialists by nature. There is a common expectation that Americans should speak English. Conform to Western technologies, customs and clothing.

The very hint of multiculturalism is a threat to the American identity.

In fact, my own family migrated from Italy. When they migrated, most of their first names were changed from Italian ethnic names to American sounding names. My great-great grandparents refused to teach their children Italian and many of the Italian customs were lost. This was because they feared being outcasted if they did not assimilate.

Challenge to American Solidarity--As Americans, we are expected to be monolithic. As I discussed prior, disrespecting or not observing American customs constitutes a challenge to the fragility of the American identity.

This is really where the, "If you don't like America, then just leave!" comes from.

It is, at it's root, if you are not with us, you are against us.

Challenge to American Authority--This comes with many aspects of out of the country relationships. America is expected to be the authority and the master of all subject matters. However, in the next section, you will see how America ranks in quite a few categories that shows it shouldn't be an authority on much of anything.

Challenge to American Centrality--America is the default in most of our minds.

Jane Elliott discusses the centrality of the United States in the map.

We are taught that America is the #1 nation and that we are the center of everything. The rest of the world, in our minds, centers on the United States. And when it doesn't, it is met with disgust and discomfort.

In fact, many of us are led to believe America is just the best nation in the world. I think, however, our statistics world-wide share a different story.

We certainly are not the most educated.

Ranked #37 for health care systems.

Our poverty situation is better than many other countries but still abysmal.

Here's a more comprehensive list of our global ranking.

It often makes me wonder why so many Americans have so much pride in this country.

And for even so much of saying this much, someone is saying, if you don't like it, get out! No, if you like it, you want it to get better! You want it to improve.

So long as the majority of Americans are indoctrinated under the spell of the American identity, so long that the country will continue to oppress people worldwide and domestically. We have given our power to a country, a nation that is not for the people that live in it.

There is no longer time for deflecting or false sense of patriotism. It is time for some REAL patriotism and by that I mean challenging the status quo. As you can see, the status quo is very difficult to challenge because it was been embedded into our very psychology from the beginning. And those who are within any category of the status quo are very much prone to fragility and defensiveness.

That fragility is key to keeping the systems alive.

Do not be fragile. Be above that.

Much love,
ArchAngel O:)