Rediscovering Patriotism
Rediscovering Patriotism
September 11 and the renewal of an old feeling
Generation X, my generation, has had an on-and-off relationship with patriotism. Early X-ers, born between 1965 and 1970, may have formative memories that include the Vietnam era, a period when reflexive Americanism was challenged more than it ever had been before. Simultaneously, some of them may remember the 1969 moon landing, a moment of enormous national pride.
But, the first X-ers also almost certainly have some recollection of Nixon’s resignation in 1974, a moment of national disgrace. Early X-ers would also be joined by some mid-Xers (those born between 1970 and 1975) in recalling the gas shortage and hostage crisis in 1979, two of the seventies’ other low points.
Early, mid and late-X-ers (those born between 1976 and 1980) all have some memories of Ronald Reagan and the 1980s. Reagan spoke in a way that made you feel patriotic—they didn’t call him the “Great Communicator” for nothing. Plus, there was that “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” moment, which was both stirring and foretelling, as the Berlin Wall would come down two years later, signifying the fall of communism and the end of the Cold War.
On the downside, the Reagan administration also covertly and illegally sold arms to Iran and diverted the profits to the Contras, a group of anti-communist resistance fighters in Nicaragua. So, when that story came out, it was a bit of a black eye for the country.
1980s movies were drowning in patriotism. Rocky III (1982). The Right Stuff (1983). Red Dawn (1984). Rocky IV (1985). American Anthem (1986). Iron Eagle (1986). Top Gun (1986). Glory (1989). And that’s not even including The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and The Return of the Jedi (1983), which, regardless of George Lucas’ politics, were coopted as conservative, anti-communist propaganda, along with the whole Star Wars franchise. The missile defense system that Reagan wanted to build was even nicknamed “Star Wars.”
Meanwhile, television showcased programs like The A-Team (1983 - 1987) and G.I. Joe (1983 - 1986). Hollywood was the military’s top recruiter in the eighties.
X-ers are also the last generation who have first-person memories of several indelible, patriotic sports moments that happened in the eighties. The Miracle on Ice in 1980, where the U.S. Olympic hockey team came back to beat the goliaths of that time, the Soviet hockey team. The giant yellow ribbon tied around the Superdome in New Orleans for the 1981 Super Bowl to celebrate the return home, less than a week earlier, of the hostages from 1979 crisis. The 1984 Olympics, in L.A., where Reagan gave a rousing speech to U.S. athletes, and the U.S. resoundingly defended its home turf, out-medaling the next closest country by 115 (due to the boycott of Communist countries), and the whole production was sponsored by flag-draped corporations.
The nineties began as carryover from the patriotism-drenched eighties. Fresh off its Cold War triumph, the U.S., helmed by its Commander-in-Chief George H.W. Bush, a World War II veteran, led the other nations of the free world to a glorious victory in a war for oil democracy against Iraq, an anti-western dictatorship. You can’t get much more red, white and blue than that.
However, when the 90s hit, Generation X-ers were all somewhere on the continuum between adolescents and young adults, meaning we were still strongly influenced by popular culture, which took a turn in the nineties. Out were family values sitcoms. In were sharp comedies about people in their 20s and 30s with sardonic senses of humor, who were trying to find their way in life. Seinfeld (1989 - 1998) and Friends (1994 - 2004) dominated the decade, along with their many imitators.
Numerous 90s movies featured similar characters exploring similar themes, only with more of an edge. Singles (1991). Reality Bites (1994). Threesome (1994). Empire Records. (1995). If Lucy Fell (1996). Grosse Pointe Blanke (1997). Any Kevin Smith movie.
These shows and movies reflected the sensibilities of the one of the dominant music styles in that era, “alternative rock” or “grunge,” in its earliest form. They also usually featured it on their official soundtracks or used it as background music. The ascendance of the genre, whose songs explored themes like alienation, depression, and loss of faith wasn’t conducive to a cultural embrace of patriotism.
Also, the nineties, at least in the U.S. sphere, was largely a time of peace and prosperity. Theoretically, with the Cold War won and America the sole remaining superpower, this should have increased our patriotic sentiments.
Instead, we became obsessed with the decade’s many tabloid crimes and scandals. Among celebrities, we were consumed with the indiscretions (and worse) by Peewee Herman, Mike Tyson, Tonya Harding, Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, Hugh Grant, Marv Albert and others. There were also sensationalized crimes that turned their major players into celebrities, such as those involving Amy Fisher, the Menendez brothers, Lorena Bobbitt and the family of JonBenét Ramsey. And, in the world of political celebrities, there was Marion Berry, William Kennedy Smith, Bob Packwood, and of course, Bill Clinton, whose affair with Monica Lewinsky and impeachment ordeal became another stain on the country’s image.
If America overdosed on Americanism in the eighties, then our nineties hangover cure was to gorge ourselves on sensationalistic junk food. A cocktail of tabloidism and cynicism flushed the patriotism from our system.
The net result was that life would end up imitating one of the decade’s most defining works of art. Life became a show about nothing.
By 2000, an event like the Bush-Gore election fiasco didn’t seem surprising anymore. Nothing did. America was defined by its sheer absurdity. We couldn’t get an election right because of course we couldn’t. Life was a series of comedy sketches, and this was the next bit.
That was the prevailing attitude in America before September 11, 2001. Then the planes hit the towers, and the world suddenly didn’t seem so funny anymore. The strike on American soil that took almost 3,000 American lives made Americans lose their taste for irony.
Until around 9:30 a.m. on that Tuesday morning, I was among the country’s chortling cynics. I was teaching in a high school with block scheduling at the time, and that semester, I had my planning period during first block, meaning that I didn’t see students for almost the first two hours of the school day. And that morning, I had spent my entire free period working on grading. I hadn’t gone on the Internet or turned on the TV in my classroom. Also, I was teaching in a modular classroom, a.k.a. a converted trailer, which prevented me from hearing the reactions of other staff and students.
The first I heard of what had happened was several minutes before I was set to begin teaching my second block class. My earliest arriving student burst through the door, and animatedly asked, “Mr. Gebeau, did you hear the U.S. is under attack? They attacked New York,” he added.
“Wait, what?” I asked incredulously, fumbling through the stacks of papers and other items in the cubby hole of my lectern for the remote control. “Are you sure it’s not just…”
“No!” He was adamant. “They attacked the World Trade Center. They hit both towers with planes.”
By this time, several more students had entered. “Turn on the TV, Mr. G!” they exhorted.
I heard their words, but my brain dismissed them. “Kids,” I thought to myself “Probably just some kind of accident. Nobody attacks America.”
Finally, I managed to locate the remote and turned on the news. The kids were right. Somebody had attacked America.
Obviously, I tossed my lesson plans for the day. Like every other teacher in the U.S. with a classroom TV, I had the news on all day long.
The rest of my second block students had barely gotten seated before the kids were proven even more right. A third plane smashed into the Pentagon. About 20 minutes later, the World Trade Center’s South Tower crumbled to the earth. Less than five minutes after that, a plane crashed in a field in southwestern Pennsylvania, thanks, as we learned later, to the heroism of the hostages on board. Less than 30 minutes later, the North Tower fell.
Somewhere during that surreal hour, a staff-wide email went out. Students were to be released if their parents requested it.
Later, the principal addressed the entire school over the intercom. His voice quaked, as he spoke through tears of rage. After condemning the despicable strikes against the country, he led us in a prolonged moment of silence, followed by what was probably the most emphatic recitation of the pledge of allegiance in school history.
The attack on the U.S. transformed it from a country that was detached and divided to one that was resolved and united. Signs of national unity were striking. Americans from every background and political persuasion lined up for blocks to donate blood and worked shoulder-to-shoulder in relief efforts. Music artists in genres from country to rap released 9/11-inspired anthems.
On the evening of September 11 itself, about 150 members of Congress from both parties stood as one on the Capitol steps and sang “God Bless America.” Ten days after the strikes, Bush’s Gallup poll approval rating hit 84%—among Democrats. Nine days later, in an address to Iowa Democrats, Gore—whom many people still believed was the rightful winner of the previous year’s presidential election—emphatically declared, “George W. Bush is my Commander-in Chief.”
No one would ever have imagined that, less than a year after one of the most bitterly disputed elections in history, Gore would be saying anything close to those words. But, I understood, because I was having thoughts that I never thought I would have also. Like that if the U.S. reinstituted the draft, and I was drafted, I would go—proudly. As a 20-something, on those occasions when the topic of selective service came up, I would always joke that I would be among the refugees heading to Canada.
Thoughts like these were coming from somewhere. I was feeling the stirrings of something I hadn’t felt in a long time: patriotism.
I loved my country. It took September 11 to remind me of that.
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