Article snippet: WASHINGTON — President Trump’s attacks on four first-term lawmakers of color have reopened a debate on the nature of patriotism and dissent. The rhetoric in his flurry of remarks echoes an old phrase last commonly heard in the Nixon era: America, love it or leave it. The theme continued at a rally in North Carolina Wednesday night, when Trump disparaged each of the representatives, including Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who was born in Somalia but is a naturalized citizen. The crowd chanted, ‘‘Send her back!’’ In his remarks, Trump told the crowd: “You know what, if they don’t love it tell ‘em to leave it.” What started out as a demand for Omar and fellow Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib to “go back” to their ancestral homelands has morphed into a call for a stringent form of patriotism where criticism of the country is not allowed — a charge that’s being amplified by Republican lawmakers who were less eager to defend Trump’s initial tweets. “The idea of America: love it or leave it is as old as the country itself,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University. “The question is: Who are the ‘real Americans?’ And that question rises in the public sphere every 30 or 40 years.” It can be traced back to the 1800s, when immigrants were demonized and suspected of importing radical ideas, like labor organizing. In the early 20th century, the patriotism of activists and political opponents was ... Link to the full article to read more