Neo-Nazis. Nationalists. White supremacists. Right-wingers.

Racists. Fascists. The Ku Klux Klan and alt-right.

Whatever you call those who gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, in support of a Confederate statue — and all that such symbols have come to represent — you cannot call them American patriots.

Patriots put themselves in harm’s way at home and far away for the rights of all of us to live and speak freely, even those who spout hate against immigrants, people of color, Muslims, the poor and the disabled.

Patriots put on all kinds of uniforms and perform all kinds of duties. They wear scrubs and judicial robes. They guard crosswalks and stock food pantries. They answer 911 calls and drive fire trucks.

But they don’t wear polo shirts with “SS” stitched onto their collars or armbands with images of swastikas. They don’t wear helmets to a protest, as if egging for a fight, and they don’t bring shields with the symbols of hate groups emblazoned on them.

They don’t arm themselves with weapons fit for an apocalypse. They don’t give each other Nazi salutes.

Patriots root for their teams and their kids. They hold up signs of hope at Martin Luther King Jr. marches. They pray that love wins and for peace on earth.

Patriots didn’t fight world wars so that future Americans could shout out “You will not replace us” and hold up signs that say, “The Jewish media is going down.” They don’t utter Nazi-era slogans such as “blood and soil” or “Heil Hitler.”

They don’t believe in “white power” and don’t organize “Unite the Right” rallies.

Patriots welcome immigrants, because they know enough about the country’s history to hope that their ancestors’ arrival to this country was one of welcome. They respect immigrants for the work they do and the strong work ethic they bring with them.

Patriots don’t burn crosses and torches — and tiki torches only at beach parties and backyard barbecues.

They don’t wave Nazi flags. They don’t carry Confederate flags, either, as much as revisionist historians try mightily to explain away slavery as central to the Civil War.

Patriots are smarter than that.

They don’t incite fear. They know such behavior has been encouraged by the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump, and they’re ashamed of that. They know it will not make America great, and that America has not been made greater since his election.

The America they love isn’t a right-wing militia on the streets of Charlottesville, rallying others to confront counter-protesters, one of whom was killed by U.S. terrorist among them.

Patriots are shaking their heads. They can’t believe a president of the United States of America won’t fully condemn the home-grown terror that clearly supported his candidacy and showed up in Charlottesville.

Patriots were horrified by the torch-bearing white men standing around a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee near the campus of the University of Virginia.

So, around the country, patriots decided to made their own stands in towns and cities. They held of signs of peace and puzzlement.

“I can’t believe I’m still protesting Nazis” one read. Another quoted King’s determination in times like this, “I have decided to stick to love,” his sign said, “hate is too great a burden to bear.”

In Charlottesville, others were more profane, “Get the ---- out of my town!” one demanded.

I loved the two trombone players in Virginia who played as loud as they could to drown out the voices of Nazis, fascists and Klansmen.

Patriots hold hands in churches, synagogues, temples and mosques, and they reach out in a sign of peace to those around them — black, white, Latino and Asian; rich, poor; gay, straight and transgender.

On Sunday, patriots mourned the death of a patriot. She was 32-year-old Heather Heyer. She was killed by an American terrorist who used a car as a weapon and plowed down a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville.

For as much as hate groups have tried to rebrand themselves, to remake their images for the mainstream, to distort and twist history to somehow justify their sick ideologies, they have failed.

You can’t rebrand hate. It’s still hate. But at least this time, they didn’t wear hoods.

eayala@express-news.net

Twitter: @ElaineAyala