We often associate patriotism with those who have a deep-rooted connection to their homeland, but what about those who have fought tooth and nail to become citizens of USA?
As a foreigner (Iranian) I have been exposed to so much of American cultural products (Also analyzing them academically for a while) that I often find myself having strong feelings about certain things in your country that I am sure many of you would not bother getting into.
But I tried to put myself in a native-born American’s shoes and find the issue to be a lot more complicated. So Here I am asking you directly how you think about this issue?
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Yes, the rite of passage throughout American history is to assimilate by adopting the local prejudices, preferably to go-extreme. A right-wing racist twit like Dinesh d’Souza is a suitable example. My Irish ancestors joined others by hating on blacks worse than the WASPs did, and so were accepted and given jobs as cops and party machine bosses.
It is extremely common for immigrants here to be very patriotic. Especially since they usually have more frame of reference to compare to.
Yeah, in fact I’d say it’s really common. A combination of valuing what you have to work for and having more perspective on where else you could be dealing with.
Yes, of course. The best Americans and the ones who are most enthused and demonstrative are usually the newer ones.
Yup, America is a country with multiple perspectives
Yes.
America is fairly unique in this regard. We are often described as a melting pot, welcoming people from around the world who come together to create a rich cultural tapestry. The foundation of American patriotism lies in a commitment to upholding the country’s core principles, such as democracy, freedom, and equality.
This means that anyone, regardless of their birthplace, can exhibit patriotism by embracing these values. Immigrants can absolutely feel stronger patriotism because they don’t take the benefits of our society for granted.
Ultimately, our patriotism transcends geographical boundaries. It’s not uncommon to have foreigners who feel patriotism for America, or American ideals.
Yes, lots of immigrants come here and love it. Just the same as in any other country. I’ve seen stories of many people end up in lots of different countries and become patriotic to their new country, and that is no different in America. I also know immigrants that aren’t.
Really depends on the situation that they came from. For example I met a woman in her 50s who was brought here as a teenager and she thinks the US is perfectly fine but isn’t in love with it either. She said she almost ran away from her parents as they began their trip over. And on the other hand I have some family that came here many decades ago that would never go back to their country and believe America is their home and that’s final, this place is just where they got used to being and they loved it.
Yes, especially those who have come to the US as adults.
Yes, because in many cases they choose to be here while people born here don’t
Sure being an American isn’t a ethnicity. Immigrants can easily embrace the nationality to an extreme degree. Especially if they come from less then ideal circumstances.
It’s honestly a pretty widely-understood phenomenon.
In my experience, absolutely. Most people here descend from immigrants, so the question “Did I or my ancestors make the right choice coming here?” is in the background, unless your ancestors were indigenous or enslaved. So nationalities who left civil wars or genocides (armenians, lebanese, vietnamese, etc.) tend to be much more patriotic than people who left much more well-functioning places.
Sure, why not?
Nearly all of the immigrants I’ve met have been very patriotic. Why else would they spend all that money and time and energy to become a citizen if they thought it sucked? Also, many of them are also tired of the often unfair criticisms the US gets from people that have only lived here. Many came from countries that have a lot more human rights issues than the US does, so they have more perspective than the restless suburban Reddit user that’s never known life outside the US.
As a whole, immigrants tend to be *more* patriotic then native born Americans in my experience.
Yes. Most patriotic guy I knew was a Filipino immigrant. American flag face tattoo, red white and blue house, etc
This is common and it’s similar to the way people who convert to another religion often take it very seriously.
The people who *choose* to take on another identity are almost always going to care about that identity more than those who were born and had it automatically.
Oh absolutely. I live in a community mostly made up of immigrants and the 4th of July celebrations here are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s all unofficial too. From about 8 PM til midnight (when the cops shut it down) I have to cover my drink while I sit in my yard because of the constant rain of ashes from fireworks. I never really cared about the 4th of July before but now it’s one of my favorite days of the year, just because of the way my community celebrates.
In most cases most immigrants I know are just as patriotic as native born. Hell half of them know the constitution and Patriotic songs better than native born people and nearly all fly flags
My wife is an immigrant and is very patriotic. It is true, immigrants who went through great effort to come here tend to be patriotic while some of those born here tend to take it for granted.
Yes, it depends on what you associate with being patriotic. If you mean solely love for the nation, then I’d say many immigrants are.
I belong to the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, and they’re what you can call very patriotic, regardless of political inclinations. A lot of Cubans say they are not political, but most do have strong opinions. I think politics is in our blood.
My nana was a immigrant who got her citizenship and she was so patriotic up until trump when she was considering going back to her home country if it wasn’t for her health issues and my aunt and grandpa being buried here.
Go to south Florida and talk to the Cubans or Venezuelans
Absolutely. My grandfather was an immigrant and one of the most patriotic people I knew. He immigrated with his family as a child, and was thankful that he was able to live in a country that was safer. He eventually became a citizen, voted, and referred to Brooklyn as his home.
Immigrants I know and legal resident aliens love this country as much as I do. I have worked with people who fled genocide, religious oppression, brutal dictatorships, and starvation to start a new life here. The reasons why the came are a part of who they are and shape the way they think of our country for all its greatness and flaws.
The United States, for many people, is not about where you were born, rather the ideals you align with. Sometimes the government doesn’t align with our goals, but that doesn’t make American born or foreign born citizens lose their love for the country and all it can be.
Absolutely. They didn’t just choose to be here . They had to jump through a million hoops to be here. Isn’t there a test they have to pass on American history and the constitution? I wonder how many politicians could pass that test.
Most of the time I feel like immigrants are more patriotic. I opened the US citizenship test, stared blankly at the first question, and closed it. Y’all had to learn more about my country than I ever did so y’all deserve patriotism.
Usually are in my experience. Most Americans don’t ponder what it means to be an American, the good or the bad, which are both required to know what American citizenship really means. That’s their prerogative. They were minted as babies. We try to achieve this in school, but after people turn 18 it is on them.
Immigrants have a special experience. Many are newly minted Americans as adults. They have the maturity and intelligence to think about the big questions.
They have a frame of reference as well as to what life was like in their native country.
For most Americans, their civil liberties are the air they breathe. They can’t always appreciate what it is like for your government to have no concern for your civil liberties, let alone your life and wellbeing.
I have the fortune of working with immigrants, and nothing made me appreciate my country more than seeing it through their eyes.
Hell, when I was working in Kenya the locals loved the US more than most citizens do. Many of them were in the process of immigrating.
They fought to get here, that’s very American
Most are more patriotic than native born Americans. They choose to come here, native born Americans are just born here.
Converts are always the most zealous.
on paper Im an immigrant, but grew up here so yeah ig we can be too
MURICA 🦅🦅🦅
Fr tho we arent the best country don’t get me wrong but sheesh better here than where I was born
I think a useful point of discussion here would also be the “Zeal of the Convert” – after going through the lengthy, expensive, and difficult process of immigrating to the US, a person would naturally have strong feelings and intense emotions about the topic.
Certainly the only 2 immigrants i know personally are very patriotic, though that’s a small sample size.
Based on my anecdotal experiences, if someone made a choice to leave their home for what they thought would be a better life in the US, and did find a better life in the US, they are likely to be very patriotic. This seems especially true of people who grew up under more authoritarian governmental systems, like in the USSR, China, or Cuba. These folks see America’s engrained limiting of government as a good thing, and are very patriotic. Most immigrants seem to just like the amount of economic opportuntiy and ability to be an individual outside of traditional cultural norms and the relative safety that comes with living in the US as great benefits.
I’ve also known a number of immigrants who don’t like the US at all and are not at all patriotic. They were typically brought to the US as children and see it as an act of violence without their consent. They end up being overly critical of the US and romanticiszing what life would be like if they “never left home”. They dream of moving back but don’t because of the expense, don’t want to start over, have friends / roots / families / lives here, their home country is unsafe or has severe economic hardships, etc.
These are just experiences I’ve seen from people I’ve known having lived in multiple north american cities and a lot of traveling. They are not absolutes and not in any way a scientific representation of America’s forien-born population as a whole.
When I married my wife from Sweden she was borderline anti-USA. She would talk about US imperialism and our unnecessarily large military (I was *in* the military at the time, too), but as the years have gone on she has become more patriotic and I have become less nationalistic. These days I don’t think of myself as particularly patriotic, while she has become far more patriotic and than me. I think a big reason is that she has become heavily involved in work, worked on her citizenship, and generally enjoys American culture and values, while I feel like the US has become less recognizable than the one I grew up in.
I would say most immigrants at least have more knowledge about things that would be considered patriotic.
I doubt most natural born citizens could pass our citizenship tests.