A video posted Monday shows conservative political commentator Steven Crowder conducting an on-the-street interview with two New Yorkers visiting Texas. Both the men have immigrant backgrounds, both have traveled in America and abroad, and both said they are proud to be Americans.
Nick, whose family is Italian, said his experience traveling to other countries has helped him appreciate America. “I’ve had the privilege to go to other countries before, and I feel like a big part of really appreciating America is going to other countries, experiencing them, and then coming back,” he said.
“I feel like we’ve lost that sense of community that I have seen in other countries where they’ve had that community,” Nick added. “But at the same time, we’ve opened up our country to all these great people from all different places around the world, and we’ve built kind of a newer community, and I think that’s something that is really unique to America.”
James, whose family is Greek, expressed similar sentiments after having traveled abroad. “I’ve been to France and to Iceland — not that those are bad countries, but I definitely feel the freest here,” he said.
It isn’t just international travel that has shaped Nick and James’s perspectives, however. James said that his travel within the United States has made him understand the importance of self-government.
“On our trip from Florida, we were driving through like Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana in the woods, and we just kind of noticed how arrogant it is for some people from these big cities to talk about, ‘Oh, we don’t need an AK-47.’ You don’t even know what you’re talking about, right? You’ve never been to a place like this where you’re 100 miles from civilization,” James said. “We just need the government to take a step back, and people need to be able to govern themselves a little bit more.”
This interview followed a different video from July 4 that showed Crowder interviewing a couple, Fate and Laura, who had been homeless for a long time before someone helped them move from Dallas to Iowa where they could find work.
“That’s what America is supposed to always be about,” said Fate, who is also black and said he doesn’t care about the skin color of his fellow Iowans. “It’s supposed to be looking after your fellow man.”
The pair said the kindness of their fellow Americans has helped them make it through.
“Would you consider yourself proud to be American?” Crowder asked.
“Absolutely,” Laura said.
