We Still Heart America

July 4 has come and gone, and it was very hot and mostly glorious. Yet on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, all is not well for our nation.

A majority of Americans still say they have pride in their country, but the percentage has dropped precipitously in the past year. Old-time patriotism, it seems, has become a partisan issue – and possibly out-of-date.

In yet another poll measuring citizenry’s feeling about their country, only about half the Democrats and independents surveyed said they are “proud” to be Americans – compared to 84% of Republicans.

Part of this, of course, has to do with the identity of the polarizing politician who occupies the Oval Office. These numbers, in other words, are not necessarily cast in stone. Far more worrisome – at least to those of us who still put our hands over our hearts and look at the flag wistfully during the National Anthem – only 20% of Gen Z feels pride in their country right now.

These are the findings of the fourth annual “Heart of America” survey sponsored by the National Collaborative for Health Equity.

“At our 250th anniversary, the promise of America endures, but confidence in the country’s ability to live up to its ideals is strained,” Dr. Gail C. Christopher, NCHE’s executive director, stressed while releasing the survey last week.

Although NCHE is a left-leaning group, its purpose isn’t to score political points, but instead to push for policy prescriptions on a wide range of issues that its leaders believe would help Old Glory regain its luster among liberals and young Americans.

“Americans still believe in freedom, fairness, and opportunity,” Christopher stated. “What many are seeking is for those values to be made real in their own lives, their own families, their own communities, and embraced by their nation.”

Notwithstanding the difficulty of reconciling partisan differences on a host of difficult issues ranging from immigration policy to voting rights, the poll also identified a strain of goodwill running through the electorate.

Respondents were asked the following question:

How hopeful are you that Americans can work through their differences and find lasting common ground in the future?

By a nearly 3-1 margin, Americans said they were more hopeful than not.

“What gives us hope is that, even in a divided country, Americans are not embracing division,” Christopher wrote in Washington Monthly. “They are reaching for something better.”

A “shared heartbeat,” she called it. Thomas Jefferson couldn’t have said it any better himself.