What Is Patriotism?
by Jennifer Ramsey

"What does it mean to love America?" I asked the squirming young faces sitting in front of me. They stared at me blankly for an instant. Finally, a hand shot up in the back.

"You hang your flag in your yard!" Their faces brightened and answers shot across the room.

"Hang those yellow ribbons!"

"Say the Pledge!"

"Sing the 'Oh Say' song!" I smiled at the last boy and swallowed my urge to correct him.

"You wear red, white, and blue! "

"Your brother goes to fight," another said quietly.

"Hey, my sister is there, too!" a girl glared.

"Good answers. Any more ideas?" I asked. I turned to the only student who had not volunteered a suggestion. "How about you? What does loving America mean to you?" Hiding behind her bangs, she stared shyly at her desk. I crouched in front of her and smiled. Finally, she looked up.

"You hold America in your insides," she whispered.

The wisdom of an eight year old can be astounding. Yes, in its most fundamental form, patriotism is to hold your country "in your insides." No matter what land you stand or even live on, the country from which you originated claims a piece of you. One could consider it an extra, oddly shaped organ, perhaps located next to one's heart.

There was a time when I did not consider myself much of a patriot. Although born in the United States, I lived most of my life overseas. When my family returned, it was to a strange new land and culture. I distinctly remember the embarrassment of standing with my sixth grade classmates and not knowing the words to the Pledge of Allegiance. As an American, I did not even have the luxury of claiming to be foreign.

In ninth grade, I finally learned the Star-Spangled Banner. In fact, I do not know anyone who knows the words better than I do. A few history dates, some more songs and poems such as Old Ironsides, a smattering of pop culture, and voila! Instant American, right?

Not quite. America is much more than that. America is a state of mind, heart, and being. America is a sidewalk crammed with faces of all forms and colors. It is a land where a million lisping schoolchildren greet each new morning with "I Pledge Allegiance to the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." They also dare to believe it.

America is a land where the poor can raise their heads and work to gain financial freedom. America is a thousand colors, a thousand languages, and thousands upon thousands of hearts beating. I know what it is like to live in a country where justice is practically bought and sold with your vegetables at the outdoor markets. In America, one can not only dream of justice; one can expect it.

America is a land of incredible wealth. Millions have been beckoned to come embrace our ideals and opportunities. In our land, there is no caste system. Here, they are embraced as brothers and fellow Americans. What other country in the world reaches so determinedly for freedom, and even for the liberty of others?

Countless lives have paid for that freedom, and will continue to do so. One cannot reach for those rights with one hand and push away the priceless gift of those lives with the other. We are not a land carpeted in yellow ribbons simply because we enjoy the color. There are those who fight for their country on the frontlines and there are those who fight in the suburbs, the farms, the cities, and the towns.

I am an American. That is quite a hefty claim. Therefore, I have a responsibility to do my part and not do it begrudgingly. The adherence to this responsibility defnes me as a patriot.

In short, patriotism is to honor the gift that has been handed freely, pay the price when necessary, defend those in need, keep a firm faith, correct when correction is needed, and always hold your country in your insides.

Even an eight year old knows that.