Written with Class, Strength and Grace

I spend most Tuesday evenings demonstrating with a group of Chelsea neighbors against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the past four years, we have stood on the corner of 24th St. and Eighth Ave. with a banner and leaflets asking our government to end the wars and bring the troops home.

A few months ago, a young man walked by us as we stood and yelled, “You people don’t know what you are talking about. You’re not patriotic.” As he said this, he pointed to the flag pin on his lapel. “This is what it is to be patriotic.”

He had touched on my pet peeve. I have an extreme disdain for people who think that wearing a flag on their lapel indicates that they are more patriotic than those of us who work to encourage our government to use good judgment. I shouted back at this man, who was twice my size, “How dare you call yourself patriotic just because you wear a stupid pin. If you believe in this war, why aren’t you there fighting it?” He turned to yell back as I bounded towards him, ready to smash his kneecaps.

My peace buddies called me back. “Calm down,” they said. “He’s a jerk. What are you planning to do, punch his lights out? He’d squash you like a bug.”

It is arrogant to assume that anyone who criticizes the government is unpatriotic. If the young man had bothered to look up the word “patriot” or “patriotism,” he would find that it goes back to the Greek patriotes meaning “fellow countryman.” During the early 17th century, a patriot was a “loyal and disinterested supporter of one’s country” similar to those who wear lapel pins.

Over the years the meaning changed, and by the mid-18th century a patriot was defined as “one whose ruling passion is the love of his country.” A later clarification included the suggestion that “it is sometimes used for a fractious disturber of the government.” If you appreciate American history, you can guess who considered patriots to be lovers or disturbers.

Anyone interested in our government or homeland should be considered a patriot. So why do the “loyal and disinterested” insist on keeping patriotism all to themselves? Their interpretation is outdated and was used long before the founding period of the United States. Most Americans consider the American Revolutionary War and the creation of the US Constitution to be the period of unquestioned patriotism.

In fact, I suspect that if I had asked the man wearing the lapel pin who he would consider to be patriotic, he might mention “give me liberty or give me death” Patrick Henry, the nighttime rider Paul Revere or, of course, “the father of our country” George Washington. These men were all fractious disturbers of their own government who are remembered and celebrated for it.

Of course, why should I care if the disinterested won’t share a love for country with those of us who criticize the government and its leaders? I care because I see myself as patriotic in the 18th-century sense. I am passionate about my commitment to this country and disruptive when I know that the country is heading down the wrong path.

For four years, my friends and I have stood out on our corner in good weather and bad to demonstrate that we are opposed to our country’s involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have been there when others were gung-ho for war, and we are there now when most of the people who pass us by would like to see the wars ended and troops brought home.

Most of our conversations with people on our corner are reflective and positive. Periodically, however, somebody comes by, like the man wearing the flag pin, acting hostile and angry. Any reaction, positive or negative, from the people who pass our corner is good to hear, because it shows that the wars are still on people’s minds. While I think the angry lapel wearers are truly patriotic in the 17th century sense, I simply wish that they would agree that we’re patriotic, too.