Yankee Doodle Dandy

When I was a little girl, I learned the song about Yankee Doodle. You know the one, with the pony and the feather and the macaroni. Children today still sing this song, especially as we approach the Fourth of July, Independence Day here in America. The term comes from an old British folk song. The colonists were called Yankees, and the term "doodle" meant fool or simpleton. During the Revolutionary War, the British soldiers would mock the American soldiers and call them Yankee Doodles. Instead of allowing it to hurt their feelings for long, the colonists embraced it and became proud of it. We Americans have been Yankee Doodles every since.

It's ironic to me that some of us Americans are so cruel to foreigners, so eager to deport people, when most of us (with the exception of Native Americans) are from immigrant stock. Someone, somewhere, at sometime in our history came to this country from somewhere else. Were they mocked because of how they spoke? Probably. Did they struggle to learn the ways of this new land, this different culture? I imagine they did. Yet their hope and courage was greater than any obstacle they had to face.

Our diversity is what makes America so unique. Where else in the world can we find such a mix of different people? We are at our worst when we are arrogant. When we mistake pride for patriotism, when we think we are better than others, that our way is the best way, that everyone should be just like us. Sometimes that arrogance blinds us to seeing that other nations have some really good things that we would be wise to adopt, even if we have to tweak it a bit to make it work for us.

We are at our best when we remember that we are all just a bunch of  Yankee Doodles, simply Americans whose hope and courage are greater than any obstacle we have to face.

Have a wonderful Fourth.

Susan

"Yankee Doodle Dandy" written by George M. Cohan. Performed in this video by James Cagney.