The Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness (FLAG) released its first annual State of American Patriotism report Tuesday, revealing a dearth of patriotism among “younger Americans.” The survey pegged that age group as under 38, including Gen Z and millennials.
The poll was conducted by YouGov and in a news release FLAG says it “starkly reveals that younger Americans … are becoming unmoored from the institutions, knowledge and spirit traditionally associated with American patriotism.”
The poll reveals a generation that is embarrassed by its flag as “a sign of intolerance and hatred,” view their country as “racist” and think former President Barack Obama was more important to American history than the nation’s founder, George Washington. (RELATED: Nearly One In Five Millennials Consider Joseph Stalin Kim Jong Un ‘Heroes’)
Former US President Barack Obama addresses the crowd in support of Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams during a campaign rally at Morehouse College on Nov. 2, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
The survey confirms findings from other studies that reveal leftist preferences among millennials, with almost one-third of them identifying as socialists and many showing a pronounced affinity for hard-line liberal politicians like California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters.
The poll revealed what FLAG founder Nick Adams called an “epidemic of anti-Americanism.” Fully 50 percent define America as “sexist,” with 49 percent calling it “racist” and 46 percent saying it is “more racist than other countries.”
Of the total respondents, 46 percent could not agree with the statement, “America is the greatest country in the world,” and 38 percent cannot concur that “America has a history that we should be proud of.”
Fourteen percent say that “America was never a great country, and it never will be.” (RELATED: Poll: Nearly 60 Percent Of Millennials Aren’t Familiar With Their Congressional District Candidates For Midterms)
Some younger Americans aren’t proud of their flag, with 19 percent believing it is “a sign of intolerance and hatred,” while 44 percent believe former President Barack Obama produced a “bigger impact” on American history than the man traditionally called “the father of his country,” George Washington.
George Washington (Shutterstock/Tony Baggett)
Adams says he was “totally unprepared” for results like these, revealing in a website statement:
We suspected that we would find decreasing numbers of Americans well-versed in our nation’s most important principles and young people less patriotic than the generations that came before, but we were totally unprepared for what our national survey reveals: an epidemic of anti-Americanism.
Adams blames a school system that has “indoctrinated” students. “That half of millennials and Gen Z believe that the country in which they live is both ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’ shows that we have a major fraction of an entire generation that has been indoctrinated by teachers starting in grade school that America is what’s wrong with the world.”