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Anthony Arnove answers the following question

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Question

Why do I as a black American continue to love and defend a country that treats me like an unwanted child? Jason Robinson


Answer

Anthony Arnove: Really, I think the question from Jason is a question that Jason can answer far better than me. And in particular, I have problem with the notion of loving or defending a country when love of one’s country and defense of one’s country today is defined in terms of militarism or nationalism of an ideology. There’s something unique or special or exceptional, in particular, about the country that Jason is from, and I am from the United States. I reject that idea, I reject the premise of nationalism, which ultimately is a form or racism or chauvinism, which is used to sell war, to prop up the idea that the United States is superior to other countries, which is an idea I reject. We have to find ways of crossing these national boundaries and finding what unites us internationally, what unites us globally, because the problems we confront can’t be defined in terms of nations. And every nation has an ideology of exceptionalism, of patriotism, of nationalism, and historically, we’ve seen not only how those were used to drive countries to war, but are used to oppress minorities or oppress people at home on the basis of those ideologies, to oppress people who don’t fit into the national – the nationalist framework, whether they are ethnic groups or otherwise. So, I don’t feel a connection with that feeling of love or defense of my country. I feel quite the opposite. I feel that Malcolm X really speaks to the question when he said that what he saw in the United States was not an American dream, but an American nightmare, and I think that that approach, that understanding really speaks the experience of so many people, not only in the United States, but around the world, who don’t feel that connection with their own state.