“Get That Son of a Bitch Off the Field”: The National Anthem, Performative Patriotism, and the Legacies of 9/11

Years before Colin Kaepernick’s dissent, the national anthem had become wrapped up in US cultural politics, a phenomenon that 9/11 exacerbated. In the wake of September 11th, Americans rallied around the flag in ways that at first seemed natural and inspiring, but almost immediately became performative and enveloped in the roiling divisiveness that has come to characterize 21st-century America.

September 8, 2026 4

“To Root Against Your Country”: Crisis, Dissent, and Patriotism Under Nixon and Trump

While the realities of 2025 are in some ways unprecedented, Americans have felt this way before. The history of the late 1960s–early 1970s—assassinations, the Vietnam War, the Nixon presidency—reminds us that previous generations pushed back against what felt like insurmountable challenges.

April 30, 2025 1

This Anthem Was Made For You and Me?

When Jennifer Lopez sang Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” at Joe Biden's presidential inauguration in January of this year, it marked the latest use of Woody Guthrie's much-contested song. The history of "This Land Is Your Land," from the many versions of the song to the even more varied responses to it, raise important questions about what a national anthem is—and what it might do in the discordant politics and culture of the United States.

July 2, 2021 2

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