Nationalism and Nostalgia
Nationalism and nostalgia - two themes that have pervaded my psyche over the last couple of weeks. In today’s writing and photo story, I observe some recent US events and report who COVID-19 is affecting the most here. I ponder the influence of the media on us all. I explore my son’s American History school work. I take a trip down memory lane, and I showcase some of my photography that shouts ‘America’. It’s an observational exploration of this great and diverse country from a newcomers perspective.
Something I’ve thought quite a lot about recently is the enormous influence the media potentially has to shape our thoughts and ideals. It’s been prompted by the continual concern from our Australian friends and family about our safety in the US. What they mostly see in the media back in Australia are statistics of deaths in the US, images of makeshift morgues in New York, and snippets of White House press briefings that present a President gone rogue. This is not a discussion on the President, I’m sure you all have your own opinions, but, my point being, don’t believe everything you read / see, (something that my Yr. 11 history teacher drilled into us), and here, I am mostly referring to the reporting on COVID-19 as a whole.
I’m not denying that what is happening in the US is devastating, it is, and I don’t want to take away from the extreme circumstances many people are suffering in this country. The latest statistics as I write this on Thursday, April 30 are:
Worldwide: 3.25 million cases, 231,000 deaths
United States: 1.08 million cases, 62,603 deaths (186.16 deaths per million people)
Australia: 6,751 cases, 91 deaths (3.64 per million people)
Shelby County (Memphis & surrounds) 2,327 cases, 44 deaths (40 deaths per million people)
Out of interest, deaths per million people in Italy are 458.07, UK 393.5, and Canada 85.13.
But from our little place here in Memphis, things seem calm and in control. Nurses I’ve spoken with say the hospitals are pretty quiet since elective surgeries have been cancelled, and we’re doing well with our social distancing which is starting to take effect. The media will of course focus on, and broadcast the stories, from the hardest hit areas; leaving an impression that the majority of the country is suffering the same fate. The US is a huge country, as is Australia, and it’s reminded me of the Australian bushfires earlier in the year. Yes, they were horrendous, lives were lost along with many homes and animals, but the whole country was not on fire as some images shared in the media seemed to suggest. This led to thousands of Australian holidays unnecessarily cancelled by internationals, and Tourism Australia having to launch a campaign to educate the world that much of the country was still open for business, although sadly this was short-lived.
There is also the question of which media to follow here in the US. I’ve found the mainstream media here astonishingly biased and skewed towards one political party or the other, so it’s been hard to decipher fact from fiction.
The notion that ‘we’re all in this together’ which has been bandied around a lot lately (cringingly so by advertisers) is not supported by statistics showing that African Americans and Latinos are disproportionately being killed by COVID-19 here in the US. Whilst we are all experiencing some form of hardship or change in our circumstances; some groups are bearing the brunt more than others. Of the Shelby County (Memphis and surrounds) deaths, 70% are of African American ethnicity, 23% are white, and 7% other, which also reflects the US as a whole. Sadly, but not surprisingly, this is due to underlying health, social and economic disparities in this country. (for further information on factors that influence racial group health see: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html)
The disparity of race in the US is a topic that requires far greater research on my behalf to really comment about, but it is something that I have keenly observed since we arrived in Memphis, especially after hearing the term white flight for the first time. I hope to explore this further in another blog post, but for now, I thought this was interesting to share:
Snowden School is a public school in mid-town Memphis . Its students consist of approx. 73.4% African American, 19.4% white, 4.4% hispanic and 1.9% asian. 71% of students come from low-income families. (source www.greatschools.org)
Rhodes College students consist of approx. 70% white, 8% African American, 6% asian, 5.37% hispanic/latino, 10.7% other (source www.datausa.io)
This disparity in education is certainly not something exclusive to the US, we see this all over the world. It is also not a true comparison here as one is a school and one is a college, but it was the racial difference between the two that really surprised me, despite the two institutions being only 0.6 miles apart.
Visiting Rhodes College led me down a nostalgic path and reminded me of one of my favorite films ‘Dead Poet’s Society’ which I had to watch again.
Whilst the film doesn’t touch on race in the US (it was set in 1959, so at that point segregation was still prominent and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had not yet come into effect), it does demonstrate economic inequality by contrasting the prestigious Welton Academy with the local public high school. Income inequality is increasing every year in the United States, and is the wedge that appears to divide the nation.
(I’m not a journalist and I’m not sure where to obtain the best statistics to back up discourse on income inequality, but this graphic seems to portray the general feeling about the issue in the US)
‘O Captain My Captain’, the famous scene in the film, is based on the poem by Walt Witman, and is about President Abraham Lincoln, the man who abolished slavery in the US in 1865. (see the poem here https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45474/o-captain-my-captain)
President Abraham Lincoln was considered one of the finest US presidents according to many, for some of these reasons:
His capacity to listen to different points of view
His ready willingness to share blame for failure
His awareness of his own weakness
His ability to communicate his goals and wisdom
His belief that all people deserved equal treatment
And his ability to control his emotions
A current leader that many of us consider great, is New Zealand Prime Minster, Jacinta Ardern. She chooses unity over division, and hope over fear, and now she’s been praised globally for her leadership in curbing COVID-19 in her country.
An Australian friend, who has been living in Memphis for the past 16 years, shared this US article (appearing on ‘NPR for the Mid-South’ USA on April 25) which I thought was interesting (click image for link):
“Praised For Curbing COVID-19, New Zealand's Leader Eases Country's Strict Lockdown”
“Social solidarity has been the lesson from New Zealand: Collectivist societies are faring better and more efficiently than fractured, individualist societies” and as my friend who shared the article writes “I think fractured is the inevitable consequence of an extremely individualistic society; we are all connected, whether we acknowledge that or not”.
On April 28, PBS in the US reported on the success of both New Zealand and Australia in curbing COVID-19, with an update that New Zealand have eliminated the virus due to their strict lockdown measures. If you are interested in finding out more, here is the link to the 4 minute report and article:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-have-australia-and-new-zealand-been-so-successful-at-managing-covid-19
Whilst, as I said above, you can’t believe everything you see / read, and Memphis feels pretty safe, I did find the protests in the last 2 weeks in the US quite disturbing.
Protesters in Michigan on April 15. Photo credit: Jeff Kowalsky, for Vanity Fair
I’m thankful this isn’t on my doorstep…
With unemployment in the US now around the 26 million mark (more than the population of Australia), and health insurance linked to employment, the 26 million will join the current 44 million who do not have health insurance. So these protests are understandable to an extent. People just need to get back to work for their basic survival. It’s suggested that there will be many more that do not seek medical help should they contract COVID-19 due to their lack of health insurance. They also see the lockdowns as a major infringement on their civil liberties, and that becomes more important to them than the health risks the protests pose.
It’s worth noting that the protesters are a very marginal portion of the population, they don’t reflect the majority of the American people, and the protests aren’t just happening in the US. But it has made me ponder the history of this nation a little more.
The school work my 8 year old son has been doing this last week was all based around America. He learnt about the flag, famous symbols in the country, he had to dress in red, white and blue for the week, and he learnt words such as allegiance, patriotic, independence, and freedom. The kids pledge allegiance to the flag each morning at school:
and they sing ‘Proud to be an American’ by Lee Greenwood at school assemblies - definitely worth a listen, it stays with.
Patriotism is installed in kids in the US at a very early age, and I think it is something quite unique to this country. Australians are generally patriotic, but tend to be a lot less overt. We also have the issue of our national day (January 26) being the day that marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships. Like the US and other young countries, our history of the treatment of First People’s is shocking, and the day has been given another name ‘Invasion Day’. For many of us, it becomes a difficult day to celebrate.
Is patriotism a form of nostalgia? Was the grass greener in the past? Is President Trump being patriotic or nostalgic (or both) when he states “Let’s Make America Great Again”? And why are we seeing so many forms of nostalgia rising to the surface in this challenging time, not just on a federal level, but at a grass roots level? We’re seeing people sharing everything on social media from music albums that shaped their taste in music, favourite old movies, childhood photos, graduation photos, and retro games that are being played. I guess part of it is that many people have more time on their hands (of course this is subjective and different for everyone), but is there something about hard times that make us yearn for simpler, and seemingly better times?
I won’t attempt to answer any of those questions here, I’m sure there is plenty of research that has been done to answer them; but I will say that we’ve been enjoying playing the vintage game ‘Mastermind’ which I haven’t played for about 35 years. It was a game that my siblings and I spent hours and hours playing as kids in the 1970’s, and it doesn’t seem to have lost its appeal in 2020. I think there was a bit of luck involved when I broke the first code on my 4th attempt, as there have been many other times when it’s taken significantly more time than what I remember as a kid! But what a thrill when you finally do crack that code.
The photo brief to myself for this post was ‘Shout America’, and with that, here’s a look at some snaps I’ve taken around Memphis and the US:
Two great American icons, the Ford Motor Company and the Star Spangled Banner
Brent’s Soda Fountain, a classic drug store soda fountain in Jackson, Mississippi, serving since 1946
Opened in 1937 in downtown Kansas City, this iconic diner began selling hamburgers for 5 cents each
An original Art Deco diner, this was built in 1948 and operated as a diner in New Jersey until 1992, when it was transported to the historic Art Deco district of Miami
Art Deco in Miami
Note the billboard in the background ‘Get PAID for your injuries’
“Slow-cooked, real pit bar-b-q, serving Mid-Southerners since 1952. We still cook our pork shoulders just the way we did 60 years ago – with hardwood, charcoal, and green hickory wood.”
With more than 2,700 franchises located in thirty states, Sonic is the nation's largest chain of drive-in fast-food restaurants.
You park, order from you car, and the servers bring the food out to you on roller-skates! A wonderful novelty for the kids, and a perfect place for today’s COVID-19 environment.
Hollywood, LA
Beale St, Memphis
Broadway, Nashville
Flo's V8 Café in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure Park, LA
Disneyland
Calvary Episcopal Church, Downtown Memphis
Memphis
Memphis
Memphis
‘I Am A Man’ mural, South Main, Memphis. This piece by ‘Marcellous (with BLK75) Lovelace’ pays homage to the Civil Rights Movement, based on the “I Am A Man” march that took place in 1968 as part of the Memphis sanitation strike. The strikes brought Martin Luther-King to Memphis, which subsequently led to his assassination.
Mural located in Memphis off Lamar Ave, artist unknown
Gun shop on Summer Ave, Memphis. This was where I was asked what I was doing and to show my ID! Must have looked a bit suspicious with my camera.
About 5 mins away from the gun shop
‘Happy COVID 19th Birthday’ - lawn birthday announcements are a thing
Heroes, they make up a large part of the American culture. Huge respect is paid to the servicemen and women of the country.
On Anzac Day, April 25, we visited the West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery to pay our respects to those that have served.
(Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. Observed on April 25 each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War (1914-1918)).
Oh, and that’s me, so clearly I didn’t take this photo. But it was taken at a 4th July (American Independence Day) party we accidentally stumbled across in LA last year, and it definitely shouts America to me!
I couldn’t finish this post without a bit of American Music, so I surveyed my American friends to find out what they think are the most iconic American songs. The results were varied, some I expected, some I didn’t know. Suggestions included ‘Born in the USA’, Bruce Springsteen, ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’, Johnny Cash, ‘American Pie’, Don McLean, ‘American Woman’, Lenny Kravitz, ‘America’, Neil Diamond, ‘American Girl’, Tom Petty, and anything by John Mellencamp. ‘In America’ by the Charlie Daniels Band was suggested, which was one I’d never heard before. It’s a toe topping Southern country song and was great fun to listen to, but I think I’ll leave you with ‘Pink Houses’, written in 1983 by John Mellencamp. Whilst it’s appears to be a patriotic American song, Mellencamp says what it’s really about is the ‘The American Dream’ not really working anymore.
While we live through these current unchartered waters in April 2020, I wonder what the songwriters are penning right now, and what a post COVID-19 America is going to look like. Will there be a new ‘American Dream’? Will we see a revitalised country with a more sustainable and equitable set of hopes and dreams, or will we see a country in tatters, with a misplaced identity, trying to work out who it is in the new world? Are we seeing a crumbling of the US empire as we know it? What layers will be revealed below the surface?
“Terrible destruction dances and the world’s days darken.
If you want supreme reality, hide from fame.
You’re looking for the pearl?
Plunge now to the sea’s bottom.
What’s on the shore is only foam.”
Poem by Jalal-ud-Dim Rumi, translated by Andrew Harvey from ‘A Year of Rumi’
God bless America.