The Red, White, and Blue Line: Patriotism's Shifting Definition
THE CLAIM: Athletes are unpatriotic for criticizing ICE. The mainstream narrative, quickly amplified by figures like Donald Trump, frames Hunter Hess as a 'real loser' for stating, 'Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the US.' Teammate Christopher Lillis echoed this sentiment, expressing heartbreak over ICE's 'recent actions.' This framing
implies that expressing reservations about government policies while draped in the flag is an act of betrayal rather than a nuanced expression of civic responsibility. THE EVIDENCE: A history of selective patriotism. Historically, 'patriotism' has been selectively defined to serve political agendas. During the McCarthy era in the 1950s, questioning government actions or foreign policy was often
branded as communist sympathy, leading to blacklists and curtailed careers (American Civil Liberties Union, 1954). More recently, athletes like Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality were widely condemned as unpatriotic, despite their actions drawing attention to profound issues within American society (ACLU, 2016). The data shows that the US incarcerates
more people per capita than any other nation globally, with ICE playing a significant role in detentions and deportations, impacting millions of families (Prison Policy Initiative, 2023). Hunter Hess highlighted that his representation was for 'friends and family,' not 'the country as a whole,' distinguishing between the people and the state apparatus. THE CONTRADICTIONS: Who gets to define