To form a more perfect union

Beau Everett
6 min readJul 10, 2021
Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. with excerpts from the Declaration of Independence in background.

On the morning of July 4th, as I read social media posts from friends and others, my initial impulse was to post my own message. But since the day is now burdened by our fractured and divisive politics, it wasn’t so easy. I spent all day trying to think of what I wanted to say. I came closest to posting these words from Thomas Jefferson:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”[1]

I read these words as a declaration of the rights of all people to live in peace with dignity and respect. But as they also present a justification for revolution in the face of a corrupt government, through a partisan lens, these words can take on a very different meaning. Those who stormed the Capitol, for instance, understand these words as a call to arms against a government that they believe is infringing upon their rights and beliefs. I am also aware that we now have a more complex understanding of Thomas Jefferson himself, an owner of enslaved people, as imperfect as the union he helped create.

How can we be proud of a nation with so many flaws? How can we celebrate a country created on lands usurped from indigenous Americans, built on the backs of enslaved people, and enriched by its history of imperialism? How can we forgive our past sins when we still too often fail to live up to our values in the present? What is patriotism in this context?

On December 7, 1950, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt visited Warsaw’s Monument to the Heroes of the Jewish Ghetto Uprising. Following in the footsteps of two officials as they laid a wreath in front of the monument, Brandt then carefully fixed the ribbons on the arrangement before taking a step back and falling to his knees. With his head bowed, Brandt silently remained knelt in this position for approximately 30 seconds. Brandt’s simple act of contrition in atonement for Germany’s wartime atrocities would come to be known as Kniefall von Warschau (Warsaw kneel down).[2]

On December 7, 1970, West German Chancellor, Willy Brandt, dropped to his knees in Warsaw to atone for his nation’s wartime atrocities. Credit: Stanisław Czarnogórski/PAP

The world was stunned. Brandt was celebrated as a humanitarian. He was named Time magazine Man of the Year and given a Nobel Peace Prize in 1971. Later recalling his actions, Brandt wrote in his memoir: “As I stood on the edge of Germany’s historical abyss, feeling the burden of millions of murders, I did what people do when words fail.”[3]

“As one reporter put it, ‘then he knelt, he who has no need to, on behalf of all who ought to kneel, but don’t, because they dare not, or cannot, or cannot venture to do so.’ That was what it was: an attempt through the expression of fellow-feeling, to build a bridge to the history of our nation and its victims.”[4]

Because of its historical links to rampant nationalism, especially ethno-nationalism, Germans view patriotism with a certain skepticism. It took an extraordinary kind of patriotism for Brandt to do what he did, to assume the burden of an entire country’s guilt and take ownership of the sins of his country with a simple expression of empathy and compassion.

If patriotism is a feeling of love and devotion to a country, Brandt’s act was the ultimate selfless act of love for his country, particularly given his personal record of opposition to the Nazis. This is an admittedly liberal view of patriotism, and not one that would sit well with the unapologetic, Confederate flag-waving, MAGA-hat wearing version of patriotism espoused by the contemporary Republican party in this country today, but I believe Brandt’s humility and honesty have a lot to teach us about love of country.

The New York Times published a story last week that got me thinking about a similar kind of patriot, Stacie Marshall. In the rural northwestern corner of Georgia, just as the pandemic hit, Marshall returned home to her family farm in Chattooga County and was unexpectedly confronted with her family’s heartbreaking past.[5]

In line to inherit 300 acres, she had big dreams for the fading operation, which she renamed Mountain Mama Farms.[6] Her website says her purpose is “to revitalize the family farm by crafting Appalachian Heritage Farm products produced on the land through natural and sustainable farming methods.”[7] The farm would sell grass-fed beef along with handmade products like beeswax lip balm and goat’s milk soap.

Her research in the farm’s history, however, revealed that W.D. Scoggins, her great-great-great-grandfather, had owned seven Black people — two men, one woman, and four children. Marshall also learned that Scoggins had acquired the family’s first tract of land, a mile or so from her farm, in an 1833 lottery that gave Creek and Cherokee land to white people.[8] In order to accommodate white European settlers, under President Andrew Jackson, the federal government forcibly removed the Cherokees from Chattooga County in what has become known as “the Trail of Tears.” Thousands of indigenous Americans died from sickness, hunger, and abuse.[9]

Marshall is anguished by this knowledge. “I don’t want my family to be painted out as a bunch of white, racist rednecks. God, I am proud of every square inch of this place — except for this.”[10] She isn’t looking to lay blame or bring shame to her community; she is, however, looking to make amends. In ruby-red Chattooga County, where Trump bested President Biden with 80.2% of the vote, this isn’t a quest that many of her neighbors understand or relate to.[11]

“There is hardship and heart break in the telling of the story of the land,” she says.[12] It is clear that she loves her family and this farm. For her, the acknowledgement of this history is an act of love and devotion, not betrayal. She has written movingly about her experiences. In a poem entitled “Back to the Land,” she writes about her hopes for her return:

Back to the land where the future is unclear

But I can see a glimpse of my children running in their ancestor’s field

Back to the Land to one day Reclaim, ReStore, Redeem some of that shame

Back to the Land that once birthed me to start a new beginning and change its history.[13]

Like Brandt, she is assuming the responsibility for her family’s history, taking it upon herself to make sure that its next chapters will be the story of redemption and atonement, that the chapters of the past will become only part of the story. This is the work of a true patriot.

Upon reflection, these are the words I would post that give meaning to my own sense of patriotism and how I love this imperfect country.

To know what has come before is to be armed against despair. If the men and women of the past, with all their flaws and limitations and ambitions and appetites, could press on through ignorance and superstition, racism and sexism, selfishness and greed, to create a freer, stronger nation, then perhaps we, too, can right wrongs and take another step toward that most enchanting and elusive destinations: a more perfect Union.” [14]

— Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, historian, and presidential biographer

[1] https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

[2] https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/i-stood-on-the-edge-of-germanys-historical-abyss-the-day-west-german-chancellor-willy-brandt-stunned-the-world-as-he-atoned-for-his-countrys-past-18178

[3] ibid.

[4] ibid.

[5] Severson, Kim. “Her Family Owned Slaves. How Can She Make Amends?” The New York Times, July 4, 2021.

[6] ibid.

[7] https://www.mountainmamafarms.com/

[8] Severson, Kim. “Her Family Owned Slaves. How Can She Make Amends?” The New York Times, July 4, 2021.

[9] http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears

[10] Severson, Kim. “Her Family Owned Slaves. How Can She Make Amends?” The New York Times, July 4, 2021.

[11] https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/georgia/

[12] https://www.mountainmamafarms.com/

[13] ibid.

[14] Meacham, Jon. (2018). The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. Random House, New York.

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Beau Everett

Imagining a better world, while trying to make sense of the one we’ve got.