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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore addressed his state and the nation in a speech to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary on Saturday.
The governor delivered the nearly 20-minute speech from the State House in Annapolis at 11 a.m. The speech, titled the “Work of Patriotism,” began with looking back on the nation’s past and examining its present.
“This is a day of reverence, but it also must be a day of reflection,” Moore said.
He paid homage to many Americans, including women who helped enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad, lawyers with the NAACP who fought for equality, union workers, nurses, veterans and others.
“They were patriots and, instead of yielding to the injustices, they fought for freedoms that they themselves might never fully enjoy, because patriotism is not simply pride in what America has been, it is taking ownership for what America can become. That is the work of patriotism. Patriotism is neither passive nor performative. Patriotism is not selfish, it is selfless,” Moore said.
But he said that he believes the premise of patriotism is under attack and its meaning is being distorted.
“Today, there are those who will use patriotism to justify pulling books from schools and rewriting history until it comforts those in power. In reality, that’s not patriotism, that’s nationalism,” Moore said.
The governor said nationalism and patriotism are getting conflated: nationalism puts a target on certain people and gives others someone to blame. He said that anxiety is growing in the economy, trust in politicians and war.
Without explicitly naming any war, he talked about military conflicts that seem like a conquest rather than a necessity.
“Starting a war without a purpose is not patriotic. Ending a war without achievement is not victory and telling soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines otherwise is not leadership,” Moore said.
So how does the governor believe the nation should move forward?
“Patriotism asks us to see our humanity in each other. It asks us to fight not just for what’s in front of us, but it asks us to fight for what we see when we close our eyes. It asks us to do what those who came before us did, to fight for the hope of a future, even if we will never see it. To know that our neighbor’s pain is our pain too,” Moore said.
Throughout the speech, Moore credited his grandfather with instilling a strong sense of patriotism in him, which contributed to his service in the military. When he deployed to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division, his grandfather passed away. Moore said that the last gift he ever received from him was a Bible.
“Inside it, he wrote four words: Have faith, not fear,” Moore said.
The governor went on to say that fear breeds nationalism and faith is the foundation of patriotism. He encouraged Americans to choose faith.
“A faith that the impact of our work will be felt for generations to come. A faith that we are fighting for a country that is worth fighting for. A faith that when it’s our turn to hand this country off to the next generation, that our descendants will say that we understand the assignment. The faith that our best days are still ahead of us and that is the work of patriotism,” Moore said.
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