by Craig Wiesner – San Mateo Daily Journal – September 3, 2024
While not a conductor by any stretch, at the beginning of any Monterey Air Force Choir concert I would conduct the choir in singing the National Anthem. I always got goosebumps as we sang that inspiring song. Now, you may be scratching your head wondering if Monterey California has an Air Force base. It doesn’t. It does have the Defense Language Institute (DLI) at the Presidio of Monterey where a few hundred thousand members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and others have been trained in foreign languages. As a student learning Korean there in 1980 one respite from classes and homework was singing in the choir that an Air Force officer had started for our student contingent. When I returned as a Foreign Language Training Non-commissioned Officer from 1983-1987, teaching in the Korean Department, I took over running that choir. We performed all over the area, with a great mix of musical styles, but of course always started with the Star Spangled Banner. To this day I still get goosebumps when I hear it, especially when there are big American flags waving along with the performance.
As a progressive Democrat it has always bothered me that waving the flag felt like something that belonged to Republicans. My experience has been that when someone like me says anything negative about the way our government or some of our people are behaving, others say that I “hate America” and wave their flags in my face. When someone brings up the historic truths of injustices visited upon some, others angrily call those complaining “traitors” and say “if you don’t like it here go back where you came from,” even though most of those they would toss out were born here. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve felt like waving the flag was a symbol of conservatism, a desire to maintain the status quo of the way things are, at best, or at worst, take our country back to the way things were decades or a century ago. When I look at the freedoms people have gained and the progress we have made in these last 100 years, I can not imagine going backwards.
For years I’ve yearned to overcome my concern that waving the flag meant excluding others, rather than as a symbol of pride and joy that we live in a country where we can disagree over all kinds of things and still all be considered patriotic Americans. That same concern, I believe, keeps many progressive Christian friends from publicly wearing their faith on their sleeves, for fear that they might be bunched in with Christian nationalists who seek to dominate our country and exclude everyone else. Senator Raphael Warnock and others, throughout the convention, demonstrated that you can, in fact, speak from your faith and include, rather than exclude, everyone. Amen.
I was joyous watching the last night of the Democratic National Convention, the hall filled with American flags. The evening started with the country group, The Chicks, singing the National Anthem and then, towards the end of her acceptance speech, Vice President Kamala Harris said this (transcript from NPR): “My mother had another lesson she used to teach. Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are. America, let us show each other—and the world—who we are. And what we stand for. Freedom. Opportunity. Compassion. Dignity. Fairness. And endless possibilities. We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world. And on behalf of our children and grandchildren, and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment. It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done. Guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love. To fight for the ideals we cherish. And to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth. The privilege and pride of being an American.”
Soon after that the balloons dropped, red, white and blue to the sound of the song Freedom with waving American flags witnessed by millions. I pray we recognize what a privilege it is to be here, in the USA, and dedicate ourselves to supporting what I believe, despite its many imperfections and past and present wrongs, is the world’s greatest example of a multicultural, pluralistic, diverse, and feisty democratic republic. And yes, I know the conductors who planned the convention intended for us to feel this way. Surprise! It worked.
CORRECTION TO MY LAST COLUMN: Concerning the economy I wrote “we have the highest employment participation in history.” I was wrong. The highest Labor Participation Rate was 67.3% in 2000. It was 62.8% in August 2024. Thanks to Terrence’s online comment alerting me to my mistake.
Craig Wiesner is the co-owner of Reach And Teach, a book, toy and cultural gift shop on San Carlos Avenue in San Carlos.