Of football and Patriotism
What is patriotism? I have found myself asking this very question time without number and to tell you the truth, I get more confused each time I’m confronted with this question so I hope to get some help from all of you out there. And oh maybe some definition might also help or what do you think?
The almighty flag of Ghana
But before I go into whatever definition is available for the word, let’s see how some people tend to define the word patriotism. Some say it is showing your love for your country. Others say it means being ready to die for the course of your country and yet there are others who subscribe to the first definition but with an added feel which is cladding oneself in the national colours as football fanatics usually do during football matches.
Whiles working on this piece, I took the opportunity to look up the definition of the work patriotism/ patriot. I have a Vicky English dictionary on my phone and although it did not have a definition for the word patriotism, it had one for patriot: person devoted to and ready to defend hi s or her country.
Good old Wikipedia also had its own definition for Patriotism which reads “love of and/or devotion to one’s country.” Patriotism has Greek origin and stems from the Greek word patris, meaning fatherland. But y’all will agree with me that the word has been given different meanings over time. One thing I found out about the word and its history is that, among the ancient Greeks, patriotism consisted of notions concerning language, religious traditions, ethics, law and devotion to common good rather than pure identification with a nation-state which in our case and according to how if I dare say some define it only in terms of displaying national colors.
Scholar J. Peter Euben writes that for the Greek philosopher Socrates, “patriotism does not require one to agree with everything that his country does and would actually promote analytical questioning in a quest to make the country the best it possibly can be.” So then based on all these, will I be right in saying I am patriotic and yet don’t give two straws about whether I am in the Red, Yellow and Green colours of Ghana whenever the national or even junior national team is playing a football match?
A replica of the Black Stars jersey
I was with a friend yesterday while the Black Stars went up against the Pharaohs of Egypt in their bid to annex the African Cup of Nations trophy from the current winners. We were having a conversation while the game was underway in its second half I presume. Midway through our conversation, we head screams from folks who were watching the game. We asked if there was a goal but the answer was negative. Sometime later the noise emerged again…as usual it was a chant for a missed opportunity for the stars to net the ball. After the third noise, my friend said “ei I’m going to watch the match… I have to be patriotic.”
This friend was not the first to have said this to me. Actually I’ve been accused several times of not been patriotic because I don’t watch the Black Stars whenever they play ‘important’ games. Seriously, my personal opinion is that the Stars have been a constant source of disappointment - and this is coming from a not-so-football-fanatic so please note that before you start throwing tantrums – so I don’t see the need to watch them. But hang on a minute, if I don’t feel like watching football or am not crazy about the game why should I pin my behind on some seat for what 90mins? What will I gain from that 90mins? Couldn’t I do something more profitable which might in the long run help GH? And the fascinating bit of the whole issue is that someone once tried making it an issue when a guy said he was not interested in watching the stars play and he said “even women kwraa are watching the match how much more you a guy?” And I was thinking, since when did watching football become a compulsory national event? Don’t people sleep in their rooms with the arguement that all these politicians are liars and refuse to vote during national elections?
So my question once again is which is more patriotic, to support the Black Stars just because everyone is doing it and because you’re afraid people will call you names or rather support the Black Stars because you really enjoy the game of football and will not end up disturbing people watching the beautiful game with question just because you don’t know what’s up with the game? And is wearing “red, gold, green with a black star in the middle” the only way to show that you’re a patriotic Ghanaian? If that is the case, then some of us will be considered outcasts because we just don’t have the “red,gold,green and black star” and I surely am not going to let somebody milk me off by selling a flag at an exhorbitant price just because what Ghana is playing in the World or African Cup. I’d rather watch the match from the comfort of my bed when I feel like it and boogie-down when the team wins…now how ’bout that for patriotism and football?
Think about these quotes on patriotism:
Edith Cavell: I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.
Bill Vaughan: A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won’t cross the street to vote in a national election.
Carl Schurz: My Country! When right keep it right; when wrong, set it right!
