Black, Red, White & Blue

For black Americans, patriotism is a complex sentiment, but "complicated relationships tend to be the deepest and strongest," writes Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post. Barack Obama’s candidacy shows how far we've come, but "it is not common, in my experience, for sitting US senators to be questioned on their love of country," Robinson observes.

“What's unpatriotic is failing to acknowledge that we've struggled with race for nearly 400 years,” writes Robinson, the son and son-in-law of World War II veterans. Obama’s candidacy “is an incredible change for this country—and recognizing the importance of that change is, to me, the very essence of patriotism.” (More patriotism stories.)