Sarah Smith, Blog 7: National Remembrance

In Chapter 7, Benedict Anderson touches upon the way that once-colonized nations began to, themselves, colonize other nations. American nationalism, in some sense, focused on colonizing others in the same way that America was once colonized. In doing so they willingly forget what it had felt like to be colonized, and the freedom that the earliest American desperately sought from the colonizing nation. American nationalism ignores the costs of colonization in the greedy quest for more land and more power.

I think that it is a recurring theme in Anderson that we forget our history. American nationalism colonizes others, forgetting what it was like to be colonized. Maya Lin demonstrates this pattern. I really enjoyed learning her story, and the story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I've seen the memorial, but I did not fully understand or appreciate it at the time. Understanding the meaning of the design and the work that went into it lent me new appreciation. Maya Lin is another example of the selfishness of American nationalism. The old, white men forget that we are a nation of immigrants, and Maya Lin is just as qualified as anyone else, regardless of the fact that she is Asian.

As Americans, nationalism ought not to focus on power beyond our borders but on strengthening the bonds within them. While Maya Lin's story represents a great success, that it became so heated is also disappointing. It shouldn't have come to that. Her credibility should not have been a question. Our nationalism would gain a great deal from recalling the past and using it to move towards the future.