海角大神

Bryon Garner and his wife were听sitting by the beach in Martha鈥檚 Vineyard when a pickup truck filled with white teenagers rolled by, flying an enormous American flag. To the Navy veteran, the display did not evoke feelings of pride; it felt menacing. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 seem friendly.鈥�

For Mr. Garner, the moment was a reminder of what, for many Black Americans, is an uncomfortably familiar fact: Being patriotic can mean having a double consciousness.

鈥淔rom the very beginning, there has been Black blood on the battlefields for this nation,鈥澨齭ays Mr. Garner, a contract specialist for the Defense Logistics Agency and a Ph.D. student researching what it means to be Black and patriotic in 21st-century America. 鈥淵et when we come home, the country still does not live up to the truest part of its values.鈥�

Every year on Independence Day, Americans of all backgrounds rally around shared ideals, surrounded by star-spangled bunting, fireworks, and flag-themed food and clothing. But for many Black Americans, the symbolism of the flag includes a struggle to reconcile love of country with the personal pain of the nation鈥檚 long history of racial prejudice.

This Independence Day, there is a glimmer of what could be, as protests for racial justice draw Americans of all races in the wake of George Floyd鈥檚 killing by police. But those cherished ideals also underline the distance that remains for America to genuinely embrace and celebrate the experience of its Black citizens.

There鈥檚 a 鈥減sychological strain of being Black and also being loyal to your country, loving your country when that love for that country and that idea of patriotism is predicated upon your hurt not existing, or silencing your hurt,鈥� says Micah Johnson, an assistant professor of mental health law and policy at the University of South Florida in Tampa.听

鈥淗ow, then, do I become a whole person, when I love this country but that country doesn鈥檛 always love me back?鈥� asks Dr. Johnson, who regularly trains organizations in anti-racism and wrote a 2017 study, 鈥淭he Paradox of Black Patriotism: Double Consciousness.鈥�

After the death of Mr. Floyd, there has been a shift, and the world now seems able to 鈥減ay attention and learn more about this double consciousness that exists in the Black community,鈥� says Dr. Johnson.

A nation of neighbors

Sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois first described Black double consciousness in the late 1800s as the duality that comes from 鈥渓ooking at one鈥檚 self through the eyes of others.鈥� During the past century, social progress has helped to alleviate the strain between being Black and being patriotic somewhat, but further progress comes down to caring more about Black people as friends and neighbors, says Dr. Johnson.

鈥淧eople are now more receptive to the Black experience. They are more interested in knowing more about these struggles. They鈥檙e invested more. With that, there鈥檚 less tension ... between these two identities,鈥� he says.

In many ways, both the American flag and what it represents have been a work in progress 鈥� changing as America has changed. During the Civil War, both anti-slavery and pro-slavery coalitions rallied beneath it. In 1963, as part of a boycott against merchants in Jackson, Mississippi, 600 Black schoolchildren carried American flags as symbols of protest before they were arrested.听

The American flag itself has been updated nearly 30 times since the bands of red, white, and blue were stitched together in 1777 鈥撎齧ore than any other flag in the world听鈥� adding stars as new states were formed.

鈥淚t鈥檚 meant to be a symbol that grows and changes with us as a nation,鈥� says Michael Green, a vexillologist at Texas A&M University.

Patriotism in higher hopes

For some, the American flag symbolizes the freedom that allows citizens to speak out and provide the impetus for change. Michael Eaborn, a Black author and poet from Spencer, North Carolina, says the flag is a reminder that America has potential. 鈥淚 love America. I think we can do better, but I鈥檓 never going to say I hate being an American, because I won the lottery: I was born in the USA,鈥� he says.

Being patriotic doesn鈥檛 mean you have to approve of everything; it 鈥渕eans loving your country enough to want to make a change in it,鈥� he adds. Mr. Eaborn says his patriotism has inspired him to act: He鈥檚 running for city council.

For Mr. Garner鈥檚 part, his father, brother, and sister all served听in the military, as he did. He continues to serve the government as a civilian, and his brother is a police officer. 鈥淪ervice means a lot to us. Patriotism means a lot to us in the sense that we do love our country.鈥�

But there is a need to widen the nation鈥檚 view of patriotism, he says. 鈥淲e have to broaden the notion of patriotism and unhinge it from a white frame of reference.鈥澨�

To Mr. Garner, it can feel that being patriotic 鈥渕eans you鈥檙e being less Black.鈥�

But it doesn鈥檛 have to be that way, Dr. Johnson says.

鈥淭he majority of Americans, for the first time in history, are demanding racial justice,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat changes the national consciousness on what the flag means. So now part of the flag is Black Lives Matter.鈥�

The flag is already becoming a more universal symbol, he adds, and that鈥檚 fitting, because 鈥渢his flag represents our love for this country and our love for [what] this country will eventually become.鈥�