What unites us: reflections on patriotism

Résumé de What unites us

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   The Thread That Binds: Rediscovering Our Shared American Story

   

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   Flying over America at night, you see something remarkable from 30,000 feet: millions of lights scattered across the darkness, each one representing a home, a family, a life. For Dan Rather, this view became a metaphor during six decades of bearing witness to American history. What holds these scattered lights together? In our current moment of fracture and fury, when neighbors can barely speak to each other across political divides, this question has never felt more urgent. Rather's reflections arrive not as partisan prescription but as something rarer-an elder statesman of journalism offering hard-won wisdom about the values that have always united us, even when we've forgotten they exist.

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   Loving an Imperfect Country: What Patriotism Really Means

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   Picture a rusted 1938 Oldsmobile bumping toward Galveston, windows down, a family singing patriotic songs. That Fourth of July memory - fireworks painting the sky, cotton candy mixing with salt breeze - shaped Rather's earliest understanding of loving America. But childhood patriotism is simple. The real test comes when you discover your country's flaws. True patriotism isn't blind allegiance - it's like parental love, recognizing imperfections while working toward growth. When Rather covered civil rights protests, he wasn't witnessing un-American activity. He was watching patriots demand that America live up to its promises. We've weaponized patriotism, each side claiming the "real" America. But our strength never came from uniformity. We're united not by shared ancestry or single ideology but by commitment to an ongoing experiment: Can people from everywhere build something together? From suffragettes to civil rights marchers, our most patriotic moments have often looked like rebellion. The most American thing you can do might be pointing out where we've fallen short, then rolling up your sleeves to close that gap.

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   The Vote and the Courage to Dissent: Democracy's Twin Pillars

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   In 1946, Rather's father took him to a precinct meeting where African American veterans tried to vote. When they stood, his father whispered, "When they get up, we get up." They were the only white people who did. Years later, covering civil rights, Rather watched a white official snarl at Black citizens: "You aren't voting today, aren't voting any day." He finally understood segregation's deepest sin. Medgar Evers became his teacher. Accompanying Evers through Mississippi, Rather witnessed courage that redefined patriotism. Evers harbored little hatred for white people - only for the system denying his humanity. When Evers was assassinated, Rather found a Jackson where most white residents either felt he deserved his fate or wanted to forget. Jeannette Rankin cast the sole vote against war after Pearl Harbor, facing death threats yet remaining unwavering. Her courage demonstrated that democracy strengthens when all voices are heard, even unpopular ones. Dissent isn't democracy's weakness - it's the immune system keeping it healthy. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1967 "Beyond Vietnam" speech exemplifies principled dissent. Linking civil rights and anti-war activism, he faced widespread criticism, including the New York Times calling it "Dr. King's Error." Yet King remained resolute: "I figure I was politically unwise but morally wise." Justice Harlan's lone dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson - declaring "our Constitution is color-blind" - eventually formed the basis for Brown v. Board of Education fifty-eight years later.

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   Truth Under Siege: When Facts Become Optional

   Orwell's 1984 resonates today because unaccountable power has no incentive for truth. The systematic undermining of press credibility began with Nixon labeling media as "enemies," a strategy Roger Ailes later monetized through Fox News. Technological and regulatory shifts transformed journalism. Reagan's FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, enabling partisan talk radio without opposing viewpoints. Cable television allowed opinion programming to masquerade as news. The internet made established outlets seem like just another website alongside propaganda and conspiracy theories. The press's greatest failure came during the Iraq War, when journalists failed to adequately question Bush administration WMD claims, damaging public trust for years. Journalism's business model continues collapsing. Since 2004, about 2,100 local newspapers have closed, creating "news deserts" where government operates without accountability. Yet quality journalism persists through nonprofit newsrooms like ProPublica and The Marshall Project-essential bulwarks against the failure of our democratic experiment.

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   From Tolerance to True Inclusion: Building a Nation for Everyone

   Rather's childhood America denied women voting rights, lynched and segregated African Americans, forced LGBTQ individuals underground, and pitied people with disabilities without providing accommodations. White, Protestant, straight, non-disabled men held unquestioned privilege - a privilege that persists but now faces mounting challenges. LGBTQ rights exemplify transformation. CBS's 1967 documentary featured Mike Wallace declaring "most Americans are repelled by the mere notion of homosexuality." AIDS in 1981 intensified stigma. Yet society shifted dramatically - from politicians opposing same-sex marriage in 2008 to widespread acceptance today. Progress accelerated when people courageously came out, forcing families to confront truths about loved ones. On race, we remain trapped in tolerance's purgatory. Predominantly Black city schools contrast sharply with white suburban districts, shaped by the Supreme Court's 1974 decision permitting inter-district segregation. Women's inclusion faces unique barriers, especially for LGBTQ women and women of color experiencing compounded discrimination. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, despite graduating first from Columbia Law School, was denied jobs due to her gender. Her Supreme Court presence proves how diversity enriches justice. Tolerance isn't enough - it permits acceptance without engagement. A worthy society embodies our first motto: E pluribus unum. Out of many, one.

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   Where Science Meets Democracy: The Battle for Facts and Reason

   Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts. If America ultimately fails, it may be because opinions replaced facts in governance. Science-a method of understanding through observation and experimentation-allows facts to triumph over prejudice. This foundation is under attack. The United States was born in scientific spirit. The Founding Fathers rejected blind faith in kings for a bold hypothesis about democracy. Franklin was an experimentalist, Jefferson's writing reflected Euclidean axioms. Science shaped our government and forged our economic might-from Carnegie revolutionizing steel to the Wright brothers conquering flight. Yet America has always harbored what Isaac Asimov called "a cult of ignorance," fueled by the false notion that democracy means ignorance equals knowledge. Political division, distrust of experts, science's self-inflicted wounds from DDT to Tuskegee, and media presenting fringe views as equally valid all fuel this crisis. Rather's relationship with science transformed when he toured oceanographer Roger Revelle's vibrant lab. He finally understood science wasn't memorization but exploration-it begins with wonder, gazing at stars and asking how things work. These values shaped our democracy and remain essential to our future.

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   The Empathy That Holds Us Together

   Rather's parents never used the word "empathy," but they lived it. In Depression-era Houston, their street bordered families in dire poverty. The neighborhood helped them survive, sharing food and water through pipes his uncle connected between houses. On Christmas Eve, his father and uncle bought toys so these children wouldn't think Santa had forgotten them. When Rather asked if they helped because they felt sorry for them, his mother corrected him: "We do not feel sorry for them. We understand how they feel." This wasn't heroism but neighborliness-an ethos repeated across America during those dark days. That empathy sustained communities during the Depression, strengthened America during World War II, and helped rebuild former enemies into allies. In the 1960s, Depression-era children produced Kennedy's "New Frontier" and Johnson's "Great Society"-landmark legislation including the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. Today, America suffers from an empathy deficit. Unlike the shared experiences of the Depression and World War II, today's wealthy are insulated from upheavals. We've become isolated in separate bubbles. Our greatest progress has always come when we've embraced empathy-when we understand how others feel and build connections that transform scattered lights into a constellation of shared purpose.

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