American pride reaches lowest level in quarter century, poll finds
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WASHINGTON - As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, a new poll finds that Americans are expressing their lowest levels of national pride recorded in more than two decades.
Earlier this month, Gallup interviewed more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
33% of US adults say they are ‘extremely proud’ to be American
The survey found that 33% of U.S. adults said they are "extremely proud" to be American, the lowest level since the organization began asking the question in 2001.
Gallup said the latest reading is down eight percentage points from last year, tying the largest single-year decline recorded in the survey's history.
Another 20% described themselves as "very proud," meaning just over half of Americans expressed high levels of national pride.
The remaining respondents said they were "moderately proud" (22%), "only a little proud" (15%) or "not at all proud" (9%).
"American national pride has never been lower in Gallup's trend dating back to 2001," Gallup said in its report. "Pride has been falling for two decades, but the pace has quickened in recent years, with the latest reading down eight points from last year alone, one of the largest single-year drops in the trend. This casts some uncertainty over how Americans will engage with the country's 250th anniversary festivities."
Survey finds partisan, demographic differences
Dig Deeper: The survey also found wide partisan differences in attitudes toward national pride.
Among Republicans, 70% said they were extremely proud to be American, compared with 28% of independents and 14% of Democrats. When combining those who were extremely or very proud, 93% of Republicans expressed high levels of pride, compared with 51% of independents and 27% of Democrats.
Crowd of American fans cheer and wave their flags at a sports event. (Credit: Getty Images)
Gallup said Democrats' and independents' levels of extreme pride are the lowest recorded for those groups.
Demographic differences were also pronounced.
The percentage of women who said they are extremely proud fell 13 percentage points from last year to 26%, while men's views remained largely unchanged at 42%.
Gallup also found declines among people of color, whose level of extreme pride fell 10 points to 20%, and among adults without college degrees, whose level dropped 10 points to 35%.
American pride was highest after Sept. 11, 2001
The Backstory: The findings continue a long-term decline in patriotic sentiment.
When Gallup first asked the question in 2001, 55% of Americans said they were extremely proud to be American. That figure climbed to between 65% and 70% in the years immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks before gradually declining.
Since 2018, no more than 47% of U.S. adults have said they are extremely proud.
The Source: The information for this story was provided by Gallup. This story was reported from Los Angeles.