When Daniel Di Martino immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela in 2016, he didn't solely seek refuge from a socialist regime and extreme poverty, he came with a mission to help Americans appreciate the freedoms often taken for granted.
This summer a Gallup poll revealed that a mere 39% of U.S. adults described themselves as "extremely proud" to be an American, a near record-low number. According to Gallup, 50% of U.S. adults aged 55 and older say they are "extremely proud" to be American, 40% of those aged 35 to 54 and 18% of 18 to 34-year-olds say the same.
"I think it's a profound lack of perspective that is leading young Americans to be less proud of their country," Di Martino told FOX News Digital.
Di Martino recalled a moment that highlighted the contrast in perspectives between immigrants like himself and some young Americans.
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"I was sitting down in an American politics class with an American student next to me, and she told me that first day, I don't remember how this came up, but she said that she wishes she hadn't been born in the United States and I just could not believe it," Di Martino said. "I just told her, you know, if there was a citizenship exchange program, I would exchange with you right now."
The lack of "extreme pride" by some Americans, Di Martino said, stems from a loss of perspective. Americans today may be unfamiliar with the reality of living under the oppressive regimes of the Soviet Union, Mao's China or Venezuela, he argued.
"We need to remind young generation's that even though the Soviet Union doesn't exist, there are still hundreds of millions of people living under oppression, totalitarianism," he said.
Di Martino also perceives the decline in U.S. patriotism to be partly attributed to education.
"Now, it's actually a subject of controversy, patriotism. Should you be patriotic? Is America a good nation or a bad nation?," he said. "Public schools should be unequivocally promoting that America is a good nation because it is."
He added, "America is not a bad nation, America is not a racist nation, America is a good nation and that doesn't mean it's perfect, but relative to the rest of the world it's much better."
Additionally, Di Martino suggested that schools need to do more to promote and celebrate the United States.
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Di Martino criticized the reluctance of some schools to promote patriotism, emphasizing that acknowledging America as a "good nation" doesn't negate its flaws, but places them in context.
He added, "Parents need to play a role in their kids' education, and they can, you know, protect their children from going woke or from going anti-American."
Moreover, while economic factors like inflation can create pessimism, Di Martino cautioned against attributing declining pride on such factors. Instead, deeply ingrained perceptions play a bigger role, he said, but Di Martino warned against American leaders further exacerbating the issue, as was the case when U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, "We need to dismantle White supremacy," in her 2021 address.
"The narrative needs to shift. We need to promote positive, inspirational leadership," he added.
Di Martino believes that the American dream is still alive but requires a change in attitude.
"A patriotic, happy nation will invariably be a richer and better one," he said.
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He called on educators and parents looking to give their students the perspective of immigrants who came to the U.S. from authoritarian countries to visit DissidentProject.org.
"We have immigrants from places like North Korea, Iran, Zimbabwe, and more, ready to share their stories at no cost to any U.S. high school," Di Martino said.
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