It’s a fine thing that we now have a national holiday that asks us to remember slavery. Some people think patriotism means insisting that America never did or does anything wrong, and that our schools should teach a purely heroic account of the American story. That’s foolish. America is made of people like you and me, who share certain ideals, truly heroic ideals, but don’t always live up to them — and some scoundrels too. Any patriotism that can’t survive contact with the actual history of America is weak stuff. A real patriot loves his country with open eyes.