OPINION:
When I was growing up, our family flew the American flag in front of our house. My parents taught my brother and me to stand when the flag came by in a parade and put our right hand over our hearts. We said the Pledge of Allegiance each day at school.
As a kid, I was fascinated by American history. I thought of our Founders as larger than life, almost superheroes. Eventually, I learned that they had been mere mortals, and a few had even had some serious flaws. Yet the things they fought for — liberty and justice for all — are worth being proud of today.
Our country was founded on the idea that all of us are created equal and that our Creator gives us fundamental rights. This was spelled out in our Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Our founders pledged “to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” Over the years, we have continued to march further on the path toward a more perfect nation.
Sadly, there are many in our country today who want to discredit our Founders without acknowledging the benefits of their work to create our nation and protect the freedoms we hold dear. Many educators challenge not only the personal character of the Founders, but also our founding principles.
According to poll results just released by Gallup, a record-low 58% of adults in the United States say that they are extremely or very proud to be an American. That is down from 90% in 2001, a nine percentage-point drop from last year and five percentage points under the previous low in 2020. Two groups are driving the historic decline this year: Democrats and Generation Z.
Pride in America by people who identify as Democrats tanked to just 36% of those polled by Gallup. That is down from 62% a year ago, showing that, for many in this group, pride in our country is driven by who is in office. It is only the second time in the poll that pride has fallen below the majority level for Democrats. In 2020, Democrats’ pride fell to 42 % shortly after the death of George Floyd and the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republicans, on the other hand, have high levels of pride in America. This group usually sits above 90%. This year, they registered at 92%. Even with a Democrat in office last year, pride for Republicans came in at 85%, showing that for many of these voters, faith in our nation is not dependent on who controls the government.
Younger voters are the other group driving the decline in pride for our country. According to Gallup, less than half of adults in Gen Z (born after 1996) are extremely or very proud to be an American. It gets somewhat better with age, as millennials (born between 1980 and 1996) are at 58%. Members of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) go up to 71%, baby boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) to 75%, and the Silent Generation (1928 to 1945) to 83% when looking at data from 2021 to 2025.
These findings are consistent with another survey, the Harvard Youth Poll. Their results show that only 41% of 18-to 29-year-olds say they are proud to be Americans, and almost a third say they are embarrassed to be Americans.
Similarly, the results of the Gallup poll show that 32% of Gen Z Democrats say that they have little or no pride in being Americans, compared to 24% who say that they are extremely or very proud.
A failing education system, radical partisan divides, biased media outlets and liberal social media influences are all major factors in the decline of pride in America. In my opinion, it is part of a concerted effort by those on the radical left.
The death of George Floyd provided a basis for the re-emergence of the organization Black Lives Matter. Undisputed video footage of the organization’s founders shows them identifying themselves as Marxist organizers.
Communist organizers around the world typically use class warfare to gain control. Since the United States is not a class-based society, efforts to organize have not been effective over the years. Now they are making new efforts, but not based solely on class. Instead, they seek to divide us based on race, sex and gender.
Their successful efforts in higher education and even in K-12 education have changed the views of many young people who now question the exceptionalism of America over concerns about discrimination based on race, sex and gender.
While our nation’s history is far from perfect in several of these areas, the radical left’s new efforts fail to acknowledge the gains made over time.
It is incumbent upon us to teach future generations about American history and share the many reasons to be proud of our great nation.
• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.
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