The reflection of minority groups

Around the world, people vote for a new leader in their countries every election. And they feel very proud to be a part of their country and celebrate it, which is known as patriotism. But there can also be differences in the opinions of people who choose their leader. Some people can never feel patriotic because of their feelings about the actions of the government. One example of this is when the United States had a huge slavery issue. Because of this many African Americans don't feel patriotic about being an American, and when Frederick Douglass delivered his speech, he too said the same. The appeal that July 4th had toward white people only brought sadness and anger to Douglass as the country did not live up to what the founding fathers wrote in the Constitution. The country treated the African Americans poorly so they did not feel the need to feel patriotic toward the same country. Another instance of this is in Sherman Alexie's Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, where Victor's father keeps referencing the things America has done to Native Americans. Native Americans were forcefully kicked out of their land so the United States could expand in those areas, but the natives didn't have many places to go and the government didn't seem to care about them. Because of this Indians also aren't very fond of the United States government which is shown when his father says, "And besides, why the hell would you want to fight a war for this country? It’s been trying to kill Indians since the very beginning " (Alexie). The examples provided in these two stories and many others show the true hardships and trouble that minority groups went through and their reflection on the government.

Comments

  1. Aswin GopinathSeptember 24, 2023 at 1:21 PM

    I agree with you Thaneshwar, minority groups have always suffered due to majority groups. Reading your blog made me also think that people should have a conscience on whether they should feel patriotic or not to their country.

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