A recent Gallup survey shows only 38% of adults are “extremely proud” to be an American. This record-low percentage is the latest point in a downward trend that began in 2015. National pride is now 20 percentage points lower than it was a decade ago.
Now, I’m not yet an American citizen, so I can’t say I’m proud to be one. But having lived in this country for more than 20 years, and despite the seemingly never-ending bickering portrayed in the legacy media, I can’t wait to be an American.
It hasn’t always been this way. In fact, there was a time in my life when I hated America and everything it represents.
For the last several years, I’ve been open about my involvement with the antifa movement. I routinely marched with anarchist and animal rights groups throughout southern California. I was also part of the Occupy Movement in Los Angeles, all while wearing a black mask on my face and standing behind an upside-down American flag with anarchist symbols spray-painted on it. When you’re part of the antifa movement, hating America is part of the job.
My reasons for hating America were plentiful — or so I thought. I believed America cared only about the success of white people. I believed the system was rigged against the working class and that it cared more about profits than helping the environment. If I was proud of anything back then, I was proud of standing against the “fascist” American system.
But that began to change in 2013 when I decided to open my worldview to new ideas. I soon felt the wrath of my “friends,” who condemned and ostracized me for merely entertaining opposing views. To antifa, it is a sin to question the motivations and methods of the movement.
To be sure, America has its problems. But as I learned more about America’s ideals and what it aspires to be, a country of equal opportunity, freedom, and civil discourse, I began to find a true sense of belonging. I realized that America is an imperfect nation defined not by our faults but by our accomplishments. It’s a promise to work toward greater equality and freedom for all, regardless of your skin color or background.
This equality of opportunity is exactly the reason I’ve been able to find success as a brown Mexican immigrant. In this country, I am judged by my merits, not my skin color. America has given me the equal opportunity and freedom to choose my own path despite my minority and immigrant status. The idea that I can believe in myself is incredibly empowering.
My transition from this extremist faction was slow but also inevitable. Antifa’s toxic rhetoric can only bring chaos and destruction. But what’s worrying is that forces in politics and the media have adopted the same antifa mentality that tries to pit people against one another.
If you spend any time watching most national news coverage, you begin to realize that many politicians put their own ideologies, political parties, and political ambitions over their fellow residents. This divisiveness is the reason people are losing hope in the American project.
So, it is time to prove those divisive voices wrong.
It is time to treat one another with respect and dignity and live up to our potential. America is a welcoming nation in which everyone should have the freedom to express themselves. If you look around your community, you will realize that people are full of goodness and kindness. As more people recognize this truth, more people will begin to feel pride in being an American.
If there is anything good that came from my involvement with antifa, it is the fact that I found out just how wrong they were about this country. America is a great nation. More people should be proud of being Americans, just like I will be one day.
Gabriel Nadales is a former antifa activist and the current national director of the Western region for Our America.
