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American Patriots

 


Recently a friend posed this question on Facebook:

Question for you all: What does it mean to be a true American patriot?

It made me uncomfortable. I countered:

What would you say is the opposite of a true American patriot? I have such a hard time worth the word patriot because of how it has been poisoned by the Right. I have become so conflicted that I can’t even put it into words. So then I wondered what the opposite of patriot is.  

I suppose I was asking what qualities would indicate that someone was not patriotic. 

To be fair, that wasn’t the question they were asking. 

So, what is patriotism? Merriam Webster defines it as: love for or devotion to one's country.

That’s it. Pretty simple, isn’t it? So, what is “American” patriotism?  It depends on what you love and what aspects of this country you are devoted to, I guess. I came up with this answer:

The simplest definition for me would be that an American patriot is someone who believes that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is for ALL and lives their lives accordingly. It is in the being and in the doing.

Under no circumstances should patriotism be confused with the old clichè: my country, right or wrong. That’s jingoism.

This morning I came across something which legitimately evoked in me a feeling which I recognized as patriotism. It’s from the Milwaukee Public Library.


Still image from Milwaukee Public Library, Instagram


A Quick Guide to the Library Bill of Rights, Milwaukee Public Library 

To all the folks who think we don’t need a new downtown public library and/or that we can’t afford one, I have a question for you. In this time of deliberate eroding of the Democratic principles - - upon which our nation is founded - - how can we not make every effort to strengthen and invest in libraries?

Standing up to authoritarianism feels deeply patriotic to me.

Village Green/Town² Comments 

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  1. Julia A. McCreadyJuly 1, 2026 at 7:41 AM

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