Enrique Matias

Brendan Praniewicz

English 205-#52491

April 11, 2021

Activism and Patriotism

In today’s world, activism and patriotism is covered across numerous media outlets and a

big part of socioeconomic change in the United States. With a tremendous number of events

happening right now, like a global pandemic and social justice movements, activist are moving

forward with their efforts for change. Are these efforts seen as patriotic to society? After

defining patriotism and activism, it is clear that there is an exceptionally fine line between

defining activism as patriotic. It is patriotic when it will benefit the overall wellbeing of one’s

country and people, and not patriotic when it goes against one’s country and what is best for the

people of that country.

Patriotism in my opinion is more of a feeling than an action.  It is defined as love and

loyalty to one’s country but is completely subjective. Patriotism is about having your country’s

best interest in mind and can also be just personal identification. There is no right definition

because patriotism is what you feel it should be. To some people it means be proud of one’s

country and participating in political decisions. Others may simply see patriotism as a 4th of July

celebration where they get to wear their countries colors and wave a flag outside proudly. It can

be as complex or as simple as you feel it should be. Action is not a requirement for patriotism,

but actions can be seen as patriotic or have patriotic intent.

the betterment of humanity.  I feel that you have to take action and be a part of something in

order to be considered an activist or taking part in activism.  It is more than just subjective

feeling on a topic and wanting change; it is actually taking initiative toward that change to better

humanity.  Activism can be starting a petition or as big as starting a rally/protest for awareness

and change. The main thing being the acknowledgment of an issue and taking action to fix it.

Activism is patriotic when it is trying to change the problems that reside in a country. In

this case, it is the oppression of African Americans in America. In American there is a huge

racial equality problem and prominent racism. A movement that has seen tremendous coverage

worldwide has been the Black Lives Matter movement. The catalyst being the terrible death of

George Floyd; Americans and people all over the world stood up against police brutality and the

oppression of black lives in America. The movement had tremendous success and encouraged

many police reforms throughout all states. There is a perspectives on both sides on whether or

not the actions that took place were patriotic and this is where this fine line comes into play. “As

the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest gathered momentum and spilled over into Britain, the

statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down in Bristol and dumped in a nearly

harbour”. ( citation ). This example can be defined as both patriotic and not patriotic. Many

people would say it is vandalism and disrespectful to the history these statues represent, thus

making it not patriotic, but I say it is. By taking down this statue the people are holding these

historical figures accountable for what they have done. Yes, they may have had an impact to

Great Britain’s history, but the world has changed, and they represent a time when people of

color were oppressed and treated as objects. Such actions are necessary for the world to change

and live by their founding principles of equality, especially in the United States. On the flip side,
the BLM movement also contained actions that I would deem not patriotic, such as the rioting

and looting of local business and communities. Although not associated with original goals of

the movement, the people who took part in such actions put a bad connotation on the movement

and took away from the patriotic goals.

Activism that goes against the principles of one’s country is not patriotic. For this

example, we go back to racism and oppression in America. On January 5th and 6th, 2021,

extremist groups stormed the capitol building in order to disrupt the counting of the electoral

college for the current election that was taking place. “He saw nooses hanging in front of the

Capitol building, confederate flags and Nazi flags – along with rioters dressed in red, white and

blue. ‘I saw hordes of people just breaking in the Capitol building and vandalizing it,’ Hall tells

PEOPLE”. (citation). This quote is from a BLM activist, who worked near the capitol building,

talking about what he saw at the storming of the capitol building. This is not patriotic because

these groups of people were blatantly destroying government property and associating

themselves with items that are historically known to be racist. There goal was not beneficial at

all for the country or its people, they simply were upset with the results of our democracy and

acted on their anger while calling it a “revolution”. This activist movement goes against our

country, displayed oppressive objects, and ruined murals created for the beneficial BLM

movement. Another example of when activism is not patriotic are Trump’s campaign rallies.

Campaigning during a pandemic is difficult and makes it hard to express one’s ideas to a bigger

audience, but that does not mean it is impossible. Trump ignored and CDC guidelines during his

rallies and allowed thousands of people to gather up in proximity of each other. “While Joe

Biden has tailored his presidential campaign toward smaller, more socially distanced events

during the pandemic, President Donald Trump has made a selling point of hispacked rallies,
where mask use is often scarce. The Stanford paper studied 18 Trump rallies this year, and linked

them to a significant spike in COVID-19 cases—approximately 30,000—in surrounding

counties”.(citation). A Stanford study linked 700 covid-19 deaths and a huge spike in cases to

Trump rallies. What mainly makes this act not patriotic is the endangerment of the American

people. Trump did not have the people’s health in his best interest during a global pandemic and

the US suffered casualties due to his actions.

When it comes to protecting the environment, activism is patriotic. Fracking and the use

of fossil fuels is a big industry in the United States. It is a huge natural energy source that the US

relies on, but has a big part in climate change and damaging the environment. “On July 9th,

2012, protestors form Marcellus Earth First! Succeeded in temporarily shutting down a fracking

site in Moshannon State Forest Pennsylvania”.(citation). Pennsylvania has one of the largest

fracking industries in the US, and its economy heavily relies on it. Fracking however,

contaminates ground water, pollutes the air, and scars the land. These protestors obstructed

access to the fracking site causing a costly disruption for the industry. This is a form of patriotic

activism because they are trying to protect the land of their country and the lives of the people

who live on it. Fracking is a big part of climate change and President Biden will hopefully help

reduce the damage done to the land. In another example, President Bidens move to kill a

pipeline expansion on his first day in office encouraged activist in Minnesota to seek the same

action for their pipeline expansion. “On Monday, Minnesota Water Protector Nia Zekan shut

down construction on Line 3 for several hours after climbing into a pipe trench along an

easement site located on the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation”.(cite). This action is patriotic

because people are pointing out the damage that will be caused by this expansion and seeking

help from the government. The activists want the government to acknowledge what this
expansion will cause and to protect the Indian reservation lands that they are building on.

Hopefully with their calls for help it will grab president Biden’s attention and he can keeps his

promises and possibly do more than just stop one pipeline expansion. Actions like these attract

attention and media coverage for a good cause and the betterment of the country.

In conclusion, the argument can be made for each example stated that the acts of activism

were or were not patriotic. It is all subjective and sits on a fine line between both perspectives.

When it comes to the betterment of the country and fixing its problems, activism is patriotic.

When activist act with bad intention, go against one’s country, and do not have the people’s best

interest in mind it is not patriotic. It is not easy to make change and takes a lot for a group to

fight for a good cause, so always try to see both sides of the battle.
 Works Cited

Images, Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty, et al. “As Biden Axes KXL Pipeline, Water Protectors

Urge Him to Reject DAPL and Line 3.” Truthout, Truthout, 22 Mar. 2021,

truthout.org/articles/as-biden-axes-kxl-pipeline-water-protectors-urge-him-to-reject-dapl-and-

line-3/.

Kantor, Wendy Grossman. “BLM Activist Says ‘It Was Infuriating’ to See Nooses and

Confederate Flags at Capitol Riots.” People.Com, Jan. 2021, p. N.PAG. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=149203088&site=ehost-live.

Ogden Publications, Inc. “A Successful Fracking Protest in Pennsylvania - Environment - Utne

Reader.” Utne, www.utne.com/environment/fracking-protest-zm0z12sozlin.

Roy, Amit. “A Year like No Other: HOW CORONAVIRUS AND BLACK LIVES MATTER

PROTESTS AFFECTED PEOPLE’S LIVES IN 2020.” Eastern Eye, no. 1590, 25 Dec. 2020, p.

9. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f6h&AN=147740905&site=ehost-live.

Weill, Kelly. “Stanford Study Links Trump Rallies to 700 COVID-19 Deaths: Stanford

University Researchers Studied 18 Trump Rallies This Year and Linked Them to a Significant

Spike in COVID-19 Cases and Fatalities.” Daily Beast (New York), 31 Oct. 2020, p.

N.PAG. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f6h&AN=146751219&site=ehost-live.