Red, White, Blue and Green

At age seven, the lovely Madelyn Simone loves to sing in the cherub choir at church in Canton. As smitten grandparents, we enjoy being in attendance when we can, glad that the “love of music” gene was passed on to our granddaughter. Last Sunday, as part of a service honoring veterans, she enthusiastically saluted and marched her way through Otis Skilling’s song, “I Am Thankful To Be An American.” She and her choir mates eagerly proclaimed, “In a nation blessed with the very best, I will stand with my head up tall.”

When we arrived at Madelyn’s house to pick her up that morning, she had chosen her own fashion ensemble, with a red, white and blue sun dress, white lace tights, and her shiny patent leather shoes with the sparkly straps. She had remembered the instructions – to dress in something red, white and blue – and she was prepared. Since the frost was on the pumpkins that morning, her father suggested she wear her red sweater dress instead, wise counsel based on the chill of the season.

How do we wear the red, white and blue of patriotism these days, in this season? The popularity of the musical “Hamilton” reminds us that questions surrounding patriotism, or, perhaps better said, the meaning of being an American, are not new to 2017. Our expressions of patriotism have been debated and questioned since the early days of our country.  

We waved flags at a grand parade in downtown Cleveland when Desert Storm veterans returned, but had a less than welcoming response to Vietnam vets as they staggered home, amidst burning flags and taunting protesters. The harrowing scenes from Ken Burn’s recent PBS documentary broadened my understanding of the angst and confusion of those years. We were Americans, but we didn’t agree. Stepping farther back in time, the witch hunt of the McCarthy years, the isolationist position of the America First Committee in 1940, and the challenges brought to our union by the Civil War have all led to disagreement over our American identity.

So what does it mean to be American? What does it look like? We respond in many ways, often drawing upon the common words that connect us to answer. How many times over the course of our schooling did we repeat the Pledge of Allegiance in unison? That pledge wasn’t written until more than one hundred years after our nation’s birth, when Christian socialist Francis Bellamy penned it to mark the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the New World. According to Peter Dreier and Dick Flacks, Bellamy hoped the pledge would promote a moral vision to counter the individualism embodied in capitalism . . . He intended the line, ‘One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all’ to express a more collective and egalitarian vision of America.” FYI, I didn’t miss “under God,” as that divine guidance wasn’t added to the pledge until 1954.

The Star-Spangled Banner, another marker of our shared identity, didn’t become our national anthem until 1931, although it was written in 1814. Unlike other poetry, Francis Scott Key’s four-stanza verse was meant to be a song from its beginning, written to John Smith’s popular pub melody, “To Anacreon in Heaven.”

In that same Canton church service, we sang Katherine Bates’ poetic words: “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.” Originally titled “Pikes Peak” in 1893, it’s been a staple at patriotic programs over the ensuing years. Tears welled in my eyes as we continued to sing: “America, America, God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law.” Powerful.

As the children sang that morning, Madelyn stood beside a young boy in a green shirt (either he didn’t get the dress code memo or wasn’t paying attention). Yet he marched and saluted just as proudly – and patriotically – as Madelyn did. Red, white, blue or green, a small child or a grizzled veteran, a card-carrying member of the DAR or a newly naturalized citizen – we’re in this together, this flawed, 241-year-old experiment called the United States of America. Yes, I agree with you, Madelyn: I’m thankful to be an American too.