VIDEO: Students say they’re not proud to be American
I quickly discovered that the folks at Gallup know what they're talking about. But would anyone admit to even a little pride in being an American?
A recent Gallup poll showed that young Americans are less patriotic than ever, so with Independence Day approaching, I headed to New York University to find out.
With Independence Day approaching, American patriotism is on full display around the country. One might assume that on this holiday, everyone can come together around a shared ideal: pride in our great nation.
Well, not everyone, apparently.
A new Gallup poll recently showed a stark decrease in the number of young Americans who considered themselves proud to be American.
Wanting to see how college students would gauge their own levels of patriotism, I headed to New York University, in Manhattan, to ask a simple question: are you proud to be American?
Student after student made it clear: they were not.
“No! I’m not proud of America. I’m not proud of what we’ve done,” said one student, while another simply declared, “definitely not.”
One student, addressing the concept of American Exceptionalism, said “I think we need to stop thinking we’re the best nation on Earth. It’s just egotistical and not accurate.” When asked which country is better than America, she responded, “probably some nice little socialist country in Europe.”
One student went so far as to say that “patriotic views about America” are nothing more than “a tool to be used to get people to join the Army.”
What did the rest of the students have to say? Was anyone willing to say they were proud of America? Watch the full video to find out:
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @cabot_phillips
