{"id":21169,"date":"2020-06-30T22:56:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T22:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=21169"},"modified":"2020-07-02T15:39:33","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T15:39:33","slug":"national-parks-even-mount-rushmore-show-that-theres-more-than-one-kind-of-patriotism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/national-parks-even-mount-rushmore-show-that-theres-more-than-one-kind-of-patriotism\/","title":{"rendered":"National parks \u2013 even Mount Rushmore \u2013 show that there’s more than one kind of patriotism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Ladino<\/a>, University of Idaho<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

July 4th will be quieter than usual this year, thanks to COVID-19. Many U.S. cities are canceling fireworks displays to avoid drawing large crowds that could promote the spread of coronavirus.<\/p>\n

But President Trump is planning to stage a celebration at Mount Rushmore National Memorial<\/a> in South Dakota on July 3. It\u2019s easy to see why an Independence Day event at a national memorial featuring the carved faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt would seem like a straightforward patriotic statement.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s controversy. Trump\u2019s visit will be capped by fireworks for the first time in a decade, notwithstanding worries that pyrotechnics could ignite wildfires<\/a>. And Native Americans are planning protests<\/a>, adding Mount Rushmore to the list of monuments around the world that critics see as commemorating histories of racism, slavery and genocide and reinforcing white supremacy.<\/p>\n

As I show in my book, \u201cMemorials Matter: Emotion, Environment, and Public Memory at American Historical Sites<\/a>,\u201d many venerated historical sites tell complicated stories. Even Mount Rushmore, which was designed explicitly to evoke national pride, can be a source of anger or shame rather than patriotic feeling.<\/p>\n

Twenty-first-century patriotism is a touchy subject, increasingly claimed by America\u2019s conservative right. National Park Service sites like Mount Rushmore are public lands, meant to be appreciated by everyone, but they raise crucial questions about history, unity and love of country, especially during this election year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mount Rushmore, originally known to the Lakota Sioux as Six Grandfathers, c. 1905, before construction of the memorial. Native Americans still dispute U.S. control over the area, based on the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which granted the Black Hills to the Lakota people in perpetuity.<\/span>
\nNPS\/Wikipedia<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me, and I suspect for many tourists, national memorials and monuments elicit conflicting feelings. There\u2019s pride in our nation\u2019s achievements, but also guilt, regret or anger over the costs of progress and the injustices that still exist. Patriotism, especially at sites of shame, can be unsettling \u2013 and I see this as a good thing. In my view, honestly confronting the darker parts of U.S. history as well as its best moments is vital for tourism, for patriotism and for the nation.<\/p>\n

Whose history?<\/h2>\n

Patriotism has roots in the Latin \u201cpatriotia,\u201d meaning \u201cfellow countryman<\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s common to feel patriotic pride in U.S. technological achievements or military strength. But Americans also glory in the diversity and beauty of our natural landscapes<\/a>. That kind of patriotism, I think, has the potential to be more inclusive, less divisive and more socially and environmentally just.<\/p>\n

[Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter and get expert takes on today\u2019s news, every day.<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\n

The physical environment at national memorials can inspire more than one kind of patriotism. At Mount Rushmore, tourists are invited to walk the Avenue of Flags, marvel at the labor required to carve four U.S. presidents\u2019 faces out of granite, and applaud when rangers invite military veterans onstage during visitor programs. Patriotism centers on labor, progress and the \u201cgreat men\u201d the memorial credits with founding, expanding, preserving and unifying the U.S.<\/p>\n

But there are other perspectives. Viewed from the Peter Norbeck Overlook<\/a>, a short drive from the main site, the presidents\u2019 faces are tiny elements embedded in the expansive Black Hills region.<\/p>\n

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, viewed from the Peter Norbeck Overlook.<\/span>
\nJennifer Ladino<\/span>, CC BY-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Re-seeing the memorial in space and contextualizing it within a longer time scale can spark new emotions. The Black Hills are a sacred place for Lakota peoples<\/a> that they never willingly relinquished. Viewing Mount Rushmore this way puts those rock faces in a broader ecological, historical and colonial context, and raises questions about history and justice.<\/p>\n

Sites of shame<\/h2>\n

Sites where visitors are meant to feel remorse challenge patriotism more directly. At Manzanar National Historic Site<\/a> in California \u2013 one of 10 camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II \u2013 natural and textual cues prevent any easy patriotic reflexes.<\/p>\n

Reconstructed guard towers and barracks help visitors perceive the experience of being detained. I could imagine Japanese Americans\u2019 shame as I entered claustrophobic buildings and touched the rough straw that filled makeshift mattresses. Many visitors doubtlessly associate mountains with adventure and freedom, but some incarcerees saw the nearby Sierra Nevada as barricades reinforcing the camp\u2019s barbed wire fence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rangers play up these emotional tensions on their tours. I saw one ranger position a group of schoolchildren atop what were once latrines, and ask them: \u201cWill it happen again? We don\u2019t know. We hope not. We have to stand up for what is right.\u201d Instead of offering visitors a self-congratulatory sense of being a good citizen, Manzanar leaves them with unsettling questions and mixed feelings.<\/p>\n

Visitors to incarceration camps today might make connections to the U.S.-Mexico border, where detention centers<\/a> corral people in unhealthy conditions, sometimes separating children from parents<\/a>. Sites like Manzanar ask us to rethink who \u201ccounts\u201d as an American and what unites us as human beings.<\/p>\n