Writer Theodore R. Johnson uses the term “Black patriotism” to refer to Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., and other prominent African Americans who were critical of the U.S. policies of their day but deeply committed to the nation itself. People in journalism like 1619 lead author Nikole Hannah-Jones and politicians like Bernie Sanders aren’t tearing down America by pointing at the nation’s flaws and suggesting ways to improve it.
But while I want to emphasize that journalism that is critical of America can still be patriotic, it’s also fine if journalism or individual journalists are not particularly pro-America. O’Neal and Weiss shouldn’t be imposing a patriotism test on the journalists who work for them. Politicians are supposed to appeal to the masses, and that requires being super patriotic. But the role of journalists is to report, investigate, speak clearly and forcefully, and hold the powerful accountable. The driving values of journalists should be accuracy, rigor, creativity, fearlessness, curiosity—not patriotism.
I would have written all that even if Joe Biden or Kamala Harris were president. But with Trump ripping the leaders of the other nations from their homes with no congressional authorization on flimsy legal pretenses and violating core democratic principles hourly, the idea that journalists (or really anyone else) should be celebrating America right now is crazy. All of the worst tendencies of America—racism, sexism, imperialism, cronyism, homophobia, hyper-capitalism, and more—have been concentrated into one administration and, really, one man.
