But dying on the 4th of July was perhaps the most patriotic thing Jesse Helms ever did. Thanks, Jesse, for making the world a better place by finally leaving it.
“The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that’s thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men’s rights.” – Jesse Helms on civil rights protests.
I’m sure some right-wing blog is going to link to this post as evidence of Teh Evil Left, but my point isn’t that I’m glad Helms is dead; my point is that the ideology Helms espoused is the antithesis of everything that makes a great country. It is the antithesis of what makes this country great. And the reactions to Helms’ death are pretty clear illustrations of what “patriotism” means on the right and on the left. On the left, it means improving things, and making the dreams that underpinned the formation of this country accessible to everyone. On the right, it means narrowing those dreams and making them available only to a particular group; it means basking in power without taking any sort of responsibility, and without making any effort to actually make great the thing you claim to love so much. On the right, it’s a window dressing, absent all substance.
I’m often skeptical of patriotism, mostly because I think the version promulgated in the U.S. political scene is vapid and shallow. Patriotism or nationalism or whatever you want to call it can be great insofar as it celebrates things worth being proud of. The problem with the conservative American form of patriotism is that it’s largely flag-waiving and no substance; it’s obsessing over who’s wearing the appropriate lapel pin as a symbol that We’re Number One! as opposed to doing the day-to-day, getting-your-hands-dirty work of actually making a place great.
Helms was a cheap “patriot.” He never worked to make this country better; he worked to exclude as many people as possible from the ideas and the dreams that laid the foundation for this place. What’s most disturbing is that Helms was embraced throughout his career, all the way up until he left the Senate in 2002. In fact, they’re still standing up for him — and even defending the racist ad he used to win an election in 1990. According to conservatives, Helms was “a truly great American and champion of freedom;” “a warrior and a patriot;” and “a man who understood, appreciated and fought for everything we celebrate on the 4th of July.”
Of course, these are the same people who claim that Helms’ opposition of civil rights legislation “did not in and of itself did not make him a racist” — because his personal and administrative assistants were black.
What did Jesse Helms fight for? Well, he fought against a whole lot more than he fought for — including civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, abortion rights, HIV/AIDS funding, foreign aid, the poor, and even modern art.
He fought bitterly against Federal aid for AIDS research and treatment, saying the disease resulted from “unnatural” and “disgusting” homosexual behavior.
“Nothing positive happened to Sodom and Gomorrah,” he said, “and nothing positive is likely to happen to America if our people succumb to the drumbeats of support for the homosexual lifestyle.”
Helms launched a Senate filibuster against making the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday. He was a segregationist and a bigot. He opposed fundamental rights for American people.
He is no patriot, and he is no great American. True patriots — true people we should be admiring today — are those who did the tough work of getting out there and demanding that their voices be heard; those who insisted that their America matters too; those who did not accept the status quo and instead worked every day to make this country a better place. That takes heart. That takes love. That is what the best of America looks like.
Those are the people I’ll be drinking to tonight. Not people like Jesse Helms, who did nothing more but try to stand in their way.
Luckily, he lost long before his death. And those who admire and seek to emulate him will continue to lose — because, to paraphrase someone much smarter than me, the arc of history does bend toward justice. And it bends that way because there are passionate, intelligent, good people pushing it — not because there are people like Helms trying to stem the tide.
My condolences are sincere for his family and for the people who loved him. But for my country and for the people who I love, celebration is more in order.