In Defense of America

I'm currently reading a book called Nationalism, edited by John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith. In one of the essays included in this book, "A Nation is a Nation, is a State, is an Ethnic Group, is a...", Walker Connor makes an interesting point. He argues that America is not a nation "in the pristine sense of the word" - which is news to anybody who was alive on September 11, 2001.

Connor's initial point is that the terms "nation" and "state" are often conflagrated and confused. Connor says that nations - people of a common background and history - are the TRULY unified social denomination, while a state is comprised of multiple nations that often war and collide. All of this, in its own way, is true - sometimes, groups within a state conflict. However, Connor goes on to say that the reason different nationalities can't unite is because they don't react to the same symbolism - their backgrounds don't line up enough for true unity.

Connor obviously hasn't considered that Americans don't hold on as tightly to their heritage as others do. Immigrants from Mexico do, but that's because many Americans push them away, and the Mexican immigrants need to have SOMETHING to hold onto; once the inevitable day comes when Mexicans are accepted, they will assimilate into Americans first and very foremost as well. I speak with conviction, because that is what happened in my heritage. My grandfather and great-grandfather moved here from Sicily. At the turn of the 20th century, Italians were discriminated against and rejected; they lived in their own communities in New York, held tight to their Italian-ness. When my grandfather got to school in Brooklyn in the 40s, that was slowly changing. Today, Little Italy is barely alive; my family speaks only English around the house and doesn't celebrate many traditional Italian holidays. My grandfather speaks of being American first, every time. Once a nationality is accepted into America's fiber, it becomes American.

As for the symbolism, well, on this day nine years ago, 285 million Americans all looked to the same flag, the same eagle, the same flaming pillar as one. This was the day when of all of God's children - "black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics" (as put by Martin Luther King), as well as Italians, Japanese, Muslims, and Irishmen - came together in shock, grief, anger, determination, and a oneness that showed the world America will not be threatened. There can be no doubt that Americans comprised a nation that day - and there can be no doubt that people of all blood and creed can find their brothers every which way under the American flag.