R: Another item from when I was studying abroad was that I would get upset when people would criticize the United States. I think the most I try to convince other people of is that America tries to do the right thing. But also a recognition of what a country is striving for. J: I think genuine pride has to be based in truth, and a recognition of what actually exists. But what’s the distinction between pride and nationalism? Frankly, I think if you do ignore those things than you have something other than pride. I think a straw man of what “being proud to be American” means is that you ignore things that are wrong with the country.
I think the discussion on being proud to be American has to recognize both the good and the bad. J: That is such a beautiful microcosm of what not only America is supposed to be and but also what America actually is and both things coexisting at the same time. We don’t want to run away from this country. And I was very emotional that on this day, while my college town is under attack, my parents were saying this is what we want to be. It was surreal that while my college town was being taken over by white supremacists saying that they don’t want immigrants in this country, my parents were opting to take the oath to become American. As a matter of fact the day my parents were naturalized happened to be the day that the day of the white supremacist Unite the Right rally was going on in Charlottesville, where me and my two sisters went to college.
So with that perspective, it is immediately obvious how this country is different and how, in their opinion, at least in this one specific instance, better. The general public is not involved in the judicial process. And what he often says is that immigrants and first generation Americans are almost always eager to serve on juries because frequently, in their former countries, there is no such thing as a jury of your peers. But my Dad is a judge and he tells me about jury selection. I am a fourth generation American and for all intents and purposes I have never felt that I was anything but an American. And I think part of that is because immigrants know what else is out there. I actually find immigrants to be some of the most patriotic Americans-which is an interesting fact to have to grapple with for people who claim to be both patriotic but also oppose immigration. My Mom used to make me stand to listen to the national anthem when it played on TV, which I did not know was not a normal thing until I got older.
You should take pride in that.” So I grew up with my family really instilling a sense of pride in me. One time I asked my Mom: “Am I Indian, am I Canadian, am I American?” And she said, “You are American. My parents grew up in India and were Canadian citizens up until a few months ago. But at the same time, I come from a family immigrants. There were so many things we were doing politically at the time that I didn’t want to associate myself with and that I wasn’t proud of. He kept asking me, why are you proud to be an American? And I didn’t really have a concrete answer in the moment. Roshni: I have been traveling a lot for work over the past two years and when I was in Spain I was talking with someone about citizenship, nationality, and pride. This discussion is brought to you by Kraken Black Spiced Rum. If you like what you read, check out more spirited discussions here. This week, I sat down with my friend Roshni Gorur to discuss what it means to be “proud to be an American.” The highlights of that conversation are transcribed below. Uninhibited because of the spirits consumed during the discussion. Exploration because it is not a debate but rather a conversation in search of truth.
IM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN SERIES
The Spirited Discussions series is intended to be an uninhibited exploration of a topic related to politics, policy, and discourse.
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