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According to a new survey, American patriotism is at its lowest point for nearly two decades.
A Gallup poll found that while 70 percent of US adults said they were “proud” to be Americans, less than half said they were “extremely proud.”
The findings were released ahead of the July 4 national holiday amid the country’s fight to curb the coronavirus pandemic, and calls for racial justice and an end to political brutality in Black Lives Matter protests across states.
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Gallup said America’s pride is at its lowest point since the company began conducting surveys in 2001. It is the second year that the number of “extremely proud” people fell below the majority (45 percent).
Over the decades, the numbers remained fairly stable (81-92 percent), but declined to 75 percent in 2017, during the first year of the Trump administration.
Democrats were less likely to express “extreme pride” than Republicans. At 22 percent, it’s the lowest “extreme pride” reading for Democrats in 19 years, and half of what it was in the months leading up to Trump’s presidential victory.
“Low-record American patriotism is the latest victim of the strongly polarized political climate in America today,” Gallup said.
According to polls, neither Republicans nor Democrats are proud of the United States’ political system, but the general sense of pride of Democrats in the country may be more affected than Republicans due to their weak vision of Trump.
Gallup’s figures earlier this year found that only 31% of Americans (and only 2% of Democrats) think that foreign leaders respect Trump.
Yet both Democrats and Republicans unite around American achievements as a source of patriotism. There was overwhelming pride in American scientific achievement (91%), the American military (89%), American culture and arts (85%), economic (75%) and sporting achievement (73%), and diversity in race, ethnicity, and religion (72%).
On the other hand, the political system of the United States (32%) and the health and welfare system (37%) were not seen as favorable.
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