>and now you have a million black males in prison a population
>close to 15% of the population that represents close to 40% of
>the lower economic sector and close to 50% of the homeless.
>
>Don't even get me started with the education system diseases
>and segregation which is said to be greater now than it was in
>the 60s.
>
Good point.

Ideological State Apparatuses (Althusser) define the national status quo..

Religions,
Education Systems (including the public/private distinction),
Family life,
Legal System,
Political System etc, etc,

Do these systems/institutions create, define and sustain the national identity thereby propounding the nationalist tendency?

Look then to the 'axis of evil'; the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan

In the blue corner you have the good; democratic states
In the red corner you have the bad; anti-democratic muslim states

I think its no coincidence that the 'war on terror' emerged in the post cold war epoch. The 'threat' to democracy/capitalism (which are married concepts within the western nation identity) no longer comes from communism, but from anti-democractic muslim polities.

Is it possible that in order for a cohesive nation identity to be sustained, there must at all times be a clear and present danger to this identity. By fighting the other, does it not remove focus from the scrutiny of the one's own identity?

Sustained by myth, undoubtedly, but forged into the mass conscience none the less. (I wonder what effect the appointment of Colin Powell to Secretary of State had upon the demographics of conscription in the States)

This certainly muddies the waters in terms of progress as a disenfranchised group. How do you challenge the nation identity without completely alienating oneself from it? No mean feat, I'm sure.