We are celebrating America’s birthday this weekend. Yet recent polls show fewer citizens feel proud of being from this country.
In fact, only 36% of Democrats say they are “extremely” or “very” proud to be American. Just a year ago, that number was 62%.
This suggests that whoever sits in the White House has a lot to do with Democrats’ pride in their country. But should it?
That same poll claims that only 40% of Gen Z (13-28 year-olds) are extremely proud of America, compared with 83% of the Silent Generation (80 and older.)
This suggests the more you see, the more you come to appreciate the United States. It may well be true that Americans who aren’t proud of their heritage are just Americans who haven’t lived long enough.
But should it?
Pride is a tough thing to lecture others about. People have gripes. People have frustrations. It doesn’t do much good to wag fingers and yell “Be proud!” if that person doesn’t feel it.
But lacking pride shouldn’t mean lacking gratitude.
So on this Independence Day weekend, allow me to suggest a few small differences between the two.
Appreciation abounds in America
You don’t have to be proud of how our forefathers took this land from Native Americans, but you can be grateful that when they did, instead of an authoritarian rule, they at least aspired to create a nation “where all men are created equal.”
You don’t have to be proud of our historical sublimation of women, but you can be proud of the 19th Amendment, suffrage, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the continued ceiling breaking of American women, from Sally Ride to Janet Yellin to Kamala Harris.
You don’t have to be proud of slavery, but you can be grateful that, despite continued lingering prejudices (that, by the way, exist in all countries) we reached a point where we elected a Black man president and a black woman Vice President, hate crimes based on race are now codified in law, and approval of interracial marriage, which was at 5% in the 1950s, is now 94%.
You don’t have to be proud of our current immigration battles, but you can be grateful that so many people fighting for the right thing are themselves, either immigrants or children of immigrants, given a chance by this nation’s openness.
You don’t have to be proud of our current president’s behavior, but you can be grateful that we have a system where he can be fairly elected in, and out, unlike so many nations on this Earth.
Sharing, caring can be found
You don’t have to be proud of the shenanigans of mayors and governors, but you can be grateful for the efforts of first responders, pro-bono lawyers, and hospice volunteers in the United States, who far outnumber politicians.
You don’t have to be proud of how some leaders flout their religious beliefs, but you can be grateful that whatever church, mosque, synagogue or religious gathering place you attend, you can do so without fear of government reprisal, which is not true in so many other countries.
You don’t have to be proud of crazy policies in places like New York City or Portland, Oregon, but you can be grateful for places like Asheville, North Carolina, where, after Hurricane Helene last year, the citizens mobilized to share water, food and electricity on their porches, and even set up a medical clinic in a local dive bar.
You don’t have to proud of the bloat of American sports, but you can be grateful for the Little League games in your local park, or the soccer nets, basketball hoops and playground equipment that countless communities offer for free.
You don’t have to be proud of our nation’s poor health choices, but you can be grateful you live in a country where you can buy vegan, gluten-free ice cream right next to Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.
You don’t have to be proud of how President Donald Trump whips up a military parade, but you can be grateful for small Independence Day gatherings of flags and speeches and food and fireworks.
You don’t have to be proud of anything having to do with the nation’s foreign policies, economic rules or military actions, but you can be grateful for the freedom you have here to criticize them.
Believe me, that is hardly the case in much of the world.
Pride in this country should not waft and wane based on who gets elected president. We are bigger than that. And, even better, we are smaller than that. We exist not in the Oval Office, but in the cul-de-sac, not on the White House lawn, but under the sprinklers, not in the Situation Room, but in the community center.
There’s plenty in America that will make you less than proud, if you only look at the TV news. But if you look around instead, there’s plenty more that will make you appreciate it.
So happy birthday to our nation. It began as an ideal, and despite its many missteps, it remains one. America’s greatest attribute is aspiration. The hope that we will be better tomorrow than today. That alone, given all the alternatives in this world, is reason enough to be grateful to live here.
Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow him @mitchalbom.
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