The Paradox of Patriotism
The Paradox of Patriotism
I am a Patriot because thoughts and prayers have never succeeded in revolution.
Since my first job, whenever I complained to my mother, she would eventually burst into laughter.
“Son, you are truly an American. Only in America can you complain about having a good job!”
The subtly of her Bahamas accent makes the teasing even more endearing.
Akin to my mother, I burst into laughter when Trevor Noah, standing beside President Biden, gently reminded Americans of the beautiful quirks and oddities that form our customs.
“Do you understand how amazing that is? I stood here tonight, and I made fun of the President of the United States, and I’m going to be fine.”
Whenever I see the American flag on a bumper sticker, front lawn, social media, or a tattoo, I can safely assume someone has some “Hot Takes” about this “Woke Culture.”
Nevertheless, I love the American flag, but until I win an Olympic gold medal, I only feel safe wearing the stripes on July 4th.
Although President Obama attempted to reclaim the American flag by religiously wearing a small pin replicate, the symbol became a beacon of compromise instead of a bastion of national pride.
Take this quiz to determine if the American flag is safe for you?
Have you ever intermixed cultures at your local Cracker Barrel and received death stares lethal enough to disprove contact theory?
Does your natural longing for partnership and community cause cities to crumble into piles of salt?
Is your parent’s immigration status proof of an alien invasion supporting Tucker Carlson’s great replacement theory?
If you answered yes to any of the above, our national symbol might cause undesired side effects.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” - Preamble to the Declaration of Independence.
The divinity within the Declaration of Independence transcends the root of sin embedded in America’s creation story.
Like the apple of Eden, the Founding Fathers fed upon enlightenment, the fruit of knowledge.
The preamble ratified our nation’s new testament, recognizing that every person is created equal.
Human equality takes precedent over any recognition of your God.
The majesty of the Declaration lies in the revolutionary truth, declaring that life without liberty ceases to be life.
An individual starved of liberty is antithetical to our existence.
Freedom births liberty, and liberty is choice.
To be First-Generation American means existing one degree away from liberty, one justice away from choice.
I am a First-Generation American in every sense of the phrase.
I enjoy the spoils of war from the intergenerational battle for freedom.
Proficient in code-switching, I’m a First-Generation American because, depending on the job interview, my heritage can become irrelevant work experience.
As a living oxymoron, I, a child of Caribbean immigrants, attended a liberal arts college majoring in philosophy, and repeatedly took jobs with no pay.
With loving acceptance, my mother was sorely confused.
I am First-generation Queer because I remain unscathed from centuries of explicit prejudice that policed profound connection.
I am First-Generation Queer because I received the gift of liberty in the form of choice, in the form of expression.
My evolving sexuality sparked an evolution of my gender identity.
Exploring my sexuality became my vessel of self-understanding.
I’ve always felt ashamed and still feel ashamed to brand myself Queer.
Not because I fear disapproval from beliefs rooted in archaic ignorance, but because I feel disingenuous.
Outside of a few harsh words, I have not experienced discrimination at the hands of homophobia or gender discrimination.
I am a First-Generation American because I’ve inherited privilege through the sacrificial offerings of my ancestry.
For three consecutive weekends, the largest metropolis in the United States of America hosted citywide celebrations for Juneteenth, Pride, and the 4th of July.
With honor, I wore the rich red, green and yellow of the homeland, the vibrant rainbow colors of expression, and the firework filled red, white, and blue.
When our nation celebrates life, we declare everyone created equal, a homage to our founding.
The pursuit of happiness, an inalienable right, derives from liberty, the child of freedom.
I have no choice but to believe.
Without belief, the complacency of despair stifles any pursuit of happiness.
To not believe is a disservice to my expansive lineage.
In celebration, we emancipate.
We create unions until death due us part.
We welcome all to the American dream.
“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve political bands which have connected them with one another, and to assume among the powers of the earth,” - Declaration of Independece
In celebration, we memorialize heroes who pushed us another degree past freedom.
“That to secure these rights Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends.” - Declaration cont.
Through celebration, we preserve reproductive rights and the liberty of choice.
“It is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government. Laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” - Declaration cont.
Through inaction, we cement tragedy in place of liberty for our descendants.
I am a Patriot because thoughts and prayers have never succeeded in revolution.