CHAPTER 6 Women, Citizenship, and Civic Sacrifice: Engendering Patriotism in the First World War

Latinx Veterans, Outsider Patriotism and the Motives Behind Minoritized Military Service

“…Offering a counterpoint to scholarship on the persistent links between the multiple variants of US patriotism, racism, and xenophobia, other scholars have highlighted the many ways that people of color, women, and other "outsiders" have attempted to deploy patriotic narratives in the service of a more inclusive vision of American democracy. From the black and white abolitionists of the 19th century to a growing multiracial coalition of 21st century professional athlete-activists, a broad range of constituents including women, racialized minorities, workers, and LGBTQ people have called on the language and symbols of American democracy and freedom to demand equal access to the rights and benefits of citizenship (Jensen, 1996;Samuel, 1996). Prominent among these have been minoritized veterans, including Black, Latinx, and Asian-American servicemembers who saw their service as a way of proving their Americanness and, after their return to civilian life, as the basis for claims to civil rights, federal benefits, and social acceptance (Bodnar, 1996;Koikari, 2010;Parker, 2009;Ramos, 1998).…”