In today’s America as deep systematic racism is coming to light and the debate over black lives matter rages on, many of us find ourselves asking the same basic question: Is it patriotic to want change. If we take a close look at American History, the same answer seems to come up again and again, progress is patriotic

To trace the close relationship between America and progress, we need to look back to before the American Revolution. At this time, Americans – the ones who would later become our founding fathers – were experiencing a surge of new enlightenment ideas from Europe which focused on the power of man and the people. Most notable among the enlightenment thinkers of the time was John Locke who had experienced the English “Glorious” Revolution a few years earlier. Lock’s ideas, the ideas upon which the country was founded, included the basic rights of every person to life and liberty as well as an emphasis on reform. But he did not just believe in the value of reform, he taught that government existed for the sole purpose of protecting the people and that the people had a clear right and duty to reform their government as soon as it failed in protecting them. These very ideas were directly compiled by Thomas Jefferson in the declaration of Independence, the literal foundation of this nation. Specifically, the declaration of Independence proclaimed the equality of ALL people, asserted that all people have the inalienable rights (rights that can never be taken away) of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and set forth the civic duty of all Americans to defend the rights of themselves and their fellow Americans. 

While the Declaration of Independence does not carry legal significance today, it lays out the most basic core American values and is inarguably one of the most significant documents in the history of this nation. If we use this historical knowledge and apply it to our situation in the present day, it is clear that in order to be patriotic and best live up to the idea of America we must protect our fellow citizens of color as their rights and lives are being threatened. After all, the Declaration states in the clearest terms possible that all are created equal and everyone in this country has a right to life and liberty that can never be taken away. Moreover, we, as Americans have a clear civic duty, one that cannot be ignored, to protect black lives and their rights. So to answer our original question, progress to better protect our rights is one of the most basic and oldest American values, and looking at the founding of this nation, it would be unamerican and unpatriotic to block progress.

This strong link between America and wanting progress, in fact, has been seen countless times throughout our history since the revolution. I am going to ask you to think about the heroes of American history. Chances are you thought about figures such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, MLK, and Fredrick Douglas. Though they had different ideas and lived in different eras, the one thread that links these American Giants is the commitment to reform each showed and the major progress each pushed in terms of expanding the promise of American Freedom. Looking back on history, nobody celebrates or even remembers the efforts to refusal progress, and greatness has only ever been achieved with change. It makes sense that we are remembered for what we do rather than what we are too scared to do.

On the other hand, if we look at the times in history America tried to push back progress, we get a similar story. Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, James Garfield; I am willing to bet that nobody except current U.S. history students would recognize all these names, but they were our 19^th, 20^th, and 21^st presidents. It is crazy to think that we would have never heard of these Presidents, but they did nothing to be remembered by. Their administrations, directly after the civil war, focused on restoring the anti-bellum status quo; basically their goals were to ensure African Americans would be shut out of the American promises of liberty. If you have heard of them, it would have almost certainly been because of their failures. Clearly, we are remembered by how we change the course of history and pursue progress rather than our efforts to resist it. In the complicated history of this nation, greatness comes only with progress and failure comes when try avert it. Looking back at the founding of this country this makes perfect sense; America was founded upon liberty and it can only succeed by extending this promise of freedom to others. Overall, pursuing progress has always been patriotic and always will be.

But to achieve progress and best protect the inalienable rights of all we need to embrace a nuanced lens when looking at our history. In the history of this country, even when looking at our best moments, there have been evil aspects in the same way that good has come out of our darkest moments. We tend to think of history as either good or bad, but it is so much more complicated than that. Rather, when we look at history and appreciate its nuance, we can best learn from it. Although the country has made massive mistakes and abused groups, and still does, we need to find hope in the fact that we are still, to this day, pursuing change and are as determined as ever to achieve reform. Put simply, we need to recognize that this country is imperfect and there is massive changed to be made yet still have enough faith that we can make these changes. Even if we are not able to build a “perfect union” we, as Americans, have a duty to try to get as close to perfection as we can. 

To conclude, America was built on the promise of freedom and we are where we are only because of the progress our forefathers pushed for. While change may be daunting or seem impossible each of us has a responsibility to pursue progress, and greatness can only come with change. When we look back at our history it is clear that progress is the most American ideal to pursue and it would be irresponsible and unpatriotic to oppose it. Today this progress is in the form of furthering the rights and protections of BIPOC people in this country, so I implore you to use whatever means you have to make a difference and fulfill your duty.

by Ned Erickson