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(NewsNation) — “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe says Americans should choose gratitude for their imperfect nation over defacing monuments, which he considers “anti-American” acts.
Promoting his new documentary “Something to Stand For,” Rowe said Wednesday on NewsNation’s “On Balance” that while the U.S. has room to improve, defacing memorials means someone is “not protesting. You’re not a liberal; you’re not a conservative … you’re just anti-American.”
“I didn’t make the movie for you. I made it because of you. But not for you,” Rowe said of those who deface monuments honoring the nation’s founders and shapers.
Rowe said his film aims to tap Americans on the shoulder about what he calls revisionist history curricula and judgments made through today’s lens. He wants people to consider what they would do in the shoes of American heroes from the past.
While polls show only 39% of Americans now describe themselves as “intensely or extremely patriotic” compared to 71% in 1998, Rowe argued conflating politics with patriotism mistakenly forces people into boxes about their pride in the American experiment.
“If you’re affirmatively opposed to acknowledging the incredible progress that we’ve made since 1776 in this country … then I don’t really know what to say to you,” Rowe said.
“I don’t mean to suggest that we’re done. We got a long way to go. This country is never going to be finished. And I’m simply saying in the film, look, we were formed by imperfect men. But my God, the progress is mind-boggling. And this Fourth of July, there’s still a lot to be proud of,” Rowe said.
The documentary features encounters like one with a 91-year-old Korean War veteran crying at the World War II Memorial, which Rowe called the entire film’s essence.