O say, can you see?

Patriotism, vital to nation, can’t be forced

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,

whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight

o’er the ramparts we watched, were so galantly streaming?

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air

gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

Did you just feel compelled to stand and sing those words out loud or did it make you want to voluntarily join in?

Those words, of course, form the opening verse of “The Star- Spangled Banner,” a song originated as a poem by a lawyer ( a lawyer!) and titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” It conveys a sense of wonder and pride, after a night of intense blasting followed by hours of uncertain silence, that the U.S. flag continued to wave over the fort as the next day dawned.

Since 1931, this poem/song has been officially designated by Congress, and embraced by most Americans, as the national anthem, an homage to an instance of resilience, bravery, survival and dedication subsequent citizens melodically hope and pray will extend to every new generation of this still relatively young nation.

Just the other day, a writer to our letters to the editor section pondered whether the United States still qualifies as a nation. The author referenced a basic definition — “a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.”

Part of that debate arises over the federal government’s inability to secure the nation’s borders. Some will argue a nation that cherishes freedom can hardly justify refusing it to those who wish to enter this country, whether it’s by an orderly process or not. Others would suggest a borderless nation is no nation at all.

There’s a different debate, though, that centers on the word “common” in that definition above. The United States was founded upon the bedrock principle of freedom, a concept that today many Americans embrace primarily as long as it is in defense of their own liberty to say what they want and behave as they wish. The longer this grand experiment in self-government goes on, though, the harder it sometimes seems that Americans are willing to acknowledge such freedoms for their fellow countrymen and women.

U.S. society, even with its celebrated pluralism, was once proudly referred to as a “melting pot,” the result of fusing together generations of immigrants and people born in this land into an identity unlike any other — an American. It’s not that there wasn’t segmentation in how everyone lived or worked. But there was a sense that no matter the differences arising out of birthplaces, customs, cultures, languages, etc., being in the United States included the goal of becoming an American, where it seemed anything is possible and one’s personal or family history wasn’t by default a barrier to realizing great dreams.

What does it mean to be an American today? Are we a melting pot, or just a collection of disparate ingredients? That can sometimes be very hard to answer, but does patriotism live on? We think so, even though it’s not difficult to get an argument about what constitutes patriotism (or any other subject, really).

We note that the Arkansas Board of Education, in response to a law state lawmakers passed last year, has approved rules calling for local school boards to require the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at least one time a week during school hours. It also calls for the national anthem to be broadcast at the start of each school-sponsored sporting event.

Why would Arkansas need such a law in 2021, after the nation has existed 245 years and the state itself has been a formal part of the United States for 185 years?

Undoubtedly, some lawmakers were moved by heartfelt patriotism. Some, though, were probably motivated to react to events or behaviors they view as unAmerican. Perhaps one of the most galling for some centers on athletes, like Colin Kaepernick, choosing not to stand for the national anthem as a form of political protest against injustice.

Some people see such behaviors as unAmerican. Others see it as uniquely American. This is a nation that celebrates individual liberty at the same time its citizens can hardly withstand people who exercise it, if they be in the minority.

The tricky thing about an idea like the United States is sustainability. Benjamin Franklin is reported to have responded to questions about our form of government by advising the U.S. had adopted “a republic, if you can keep it.” Today, how do we celebrate differences while maintaining enough common experience and values that the declaration “I’m an American” has meaning?

So we’ve got a law requiring the national anthem to be played in our education system. It brings to mind two points: First, one cannot be forced into feeling patriotism. People cannot be made to feel an allegiance by required recitations of a pledge or a song any more than they can be made into people of religious vigor if they’re made to repeat “The Apostles Creed” at gunpoint.

Second, however, is recognition that Americans need common bonds and shared perspectives about the fundamentals of the nation that guarantees our liberties. Heaven forbid that we should lose that understanding until, like Francis Scott Key, we witness a threat to our nation’s existence and are again awakened to the reality that freedom and self-government, for most of human existence, has been the exception, not the rule.

If the United States is nothing but a collection of individuals, always attuned to selfish perspectives and hating those who are different, America will fade soon enough.

Appreciation of the ideas that gave birth to the United States of America are essential to the nation’s future well-being. Patriotism, rather than being forced, is really a gift born of the recognition that this nation’s bedrock principles are deserving of admiration, that they are worthy of our devotion and allegiance no less today than when George Washington and his men fought to establish a new nation.

Has this nation had its challenges and its failings? It is not unpatriotic to accept that as reality. But it takes willful blindness to this nation’s constant pursuit of a more perfect union, and its successes along the way, to dismiss its greatness even if it’s just as a beacon of liberty.

We hope Arkansas’ new law would never encourage anyone to berate or belittle a student’s decision to choose for themselves how to express their patriotism. Enforced patriotism is not patriotism at all. Our hope is that Americans of all ages will come into heartfelt feelings of patriotism based on our nation’s history and, perhaps more important, its actions in these modern times.

A nation’s institutions should proudly create opportunities to sing the national anthem and recite the Pledge of Allegiance regularly, passing on the shared expressions of a nation’s promise and, from time to time, the miracle of occasionally living up to its precious values.

Recognizing we all struggle to fully grasp or represent lofty American values, it is important, nonetheless, to declare “Long may the Star-Spangled Banner fly.”