There used to be a popular word for unquestioning hyper-nationalism — jingoism.

I use it in my writing sometimes but I find a lot of people don’t really know what it means, so I avoid it except in close context.

It’s apt though; it says something about “my country right or wrong.” It says a lot about white supremacy.

When this lieutenant told the cops he was honestly afraid to get out of the car, they told him he should be afraid. Then they issued a series of contradictory commands that he couldn’t have followed.

They already had seen his temporary license. They already knew they had no reason to pull him over. They were terrorizing him. On purpose. Because he was a Black man.

I tweeted yesterday that these cops are the functional equivalent of KKK terrorists. I believe that, but even if people don’t go all in with me, let’s not even pretend genuine patriotism has anything to do with the way cops treat Black people in the United States.

Genuine Patriots would do everything in their power to see these cops fired and jailed, and see the same thing happen with every similar cop in the country.