A June Gallup Poll carried an alarming message: “US NATIONAL PRIDE FALLS TO RECORD LOW,” the dreary headline proclaimed. Only 42% of respondents described themselves as “extremely proud to be an American” – marking a sharp decline of 25 percentage points since the days of the George W. Bush administration.

Only 24% of non-whites today call themselves “extremely proud”; barely half the percentage who did so under Obama. Worst of all, among young people below 30, just 20% felt extremely proud of their American identity, compared to 53% of those above 65.

Older Americans can recall days that stirred their pride – like epochal victory in the Cold War – while the new generation focuses on our present polarization, a paralyzing pandemic, and racial unrest.

This represents a failure not only of leadership, but of education: our politically correct schools and universities have left an entire generation ill-informed about America’s indispensable and recent role in uplifting humanity.