Great Americans

It's interesting how this innocuous phrase has turned saccarine because of its abuse by certain right-wing talking heads. "Great American" now sounds like it has something to do with a steadfast patriotism and jingoism that stands against criticism, no matter how soundly grounded.

But America has produced a significant amount of greatness, which is easy to overlook considering our current retrograde state. The following is a brief list of some of my favorite great Americans; I'd like to hear about some of yours.

Walt Whitman
Whitman is one of the great scribes of the American scene in all its diversity and nobility. Whitman celebrated American vitality, creativity, and versatility. He celebrated the common man and woman and the multiple everyday people who comprise the pride of the country. Whitman elevated the glories of democracry to higher than that achieved by any previous aristocracy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson was considered one of the first American intellectuals. He celebrated the individual conscience and the unique callings of the individual spirit to virtue. Emerson beckoned us to higher levels of integrity, and encouraged us to always look at the world freshly, with our own eyes. Emerson embodies the American independence of mind and freedom of conscience we still hold dear.

Martin Luther King
Dr. King took a personal and racial history of pain and suffering and turned it into a redemptive philosophy of understanding and compassion. I think the deep philosophical basis for Dr. King's actions are often overlooked, how the social justice campaigns that he led were undergirded by serious introspection into theology and the human character. Dr. King reinvigorated, if not created, the American tradition of seeking justice through compassionate means.

Comments

Bill Baar said…
What's wrong with being steadfast patriotism?
December 03, 2006
Bill Baar said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
December 03, 2006
Louis Merlin said…
Nothing's inherently wrong with steadfast patriotism. But having steadfast patriotism doesn't make you a hero. And if your patriotism is so steadfast that you overlook the sins of your country, that can be a problem.

If, for instance, you say that because we're a great country, and because we are fighting for democracy, it's OK for us to use torture to fight the bad guys, well, that's just wrong.

I guess it's like the line between having self-esteem (good) and narcissitic self-absorption (bad).
December 03, 2006
Anonymous said…
Are you asking? I still really like Thomas Jefferson, and I think I should learn more about Tom Paine.
How about Florence Nightingale?
February 19, 2007
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