A group of students from Washington D.C. struggled to say whether they were ‘proud’ of the United States, with the majority of those questioned by a reporter seemingly embarrassed by their country.
The simple question was posed by Ophelie Jacobson, a reporter with Campus Reform, a conservative news website just ahead of the July Fourth holiday.
Jacobson walked around the wealthy suburb of Georgetown which is also home to the liberal Georgetown University.
Students from Georgetown and American Universities were asked if they felt proud to be American
The majority of students said they were not proud to be American with some adding they were ’embarrassed’
One woman who was interviewed said she felt ’embarrassed to be an American every day’ when asked whether she was proud.
‘I think a lot of things about this country are really embarrassing, just like…racist history, colonization, and even currently with what’s going on with politics the cops,’ she explained during the five minute video.
‘I think that’s a complicated question for me,’ another student said. ‘I think most of the time, no…at least over the past four years, it’s been tricky to love to be an American.’
‘I wouldn’t say I’m as proud as I was, but there is still a little bit of country pride,’ another female student added with a glimmer of hope. ‘I’d say it’s the greatest country at the Olympics!’
An African-American student said that being a black person meant she ‘experienced a lot of oppression that comes with that.’
‘What is there to be proud about if you’re black? There’s still a lot of stuff that goes on for black people,’ one woman responded.
Another woman agreed saying ‘a lot of times, it’s just embarrassing’ to be American because the country claims ‘to support everyone, but…we continue to support Israel, which is dislocating quite a few Palestinian people, which is sad.’
Upon being asked if they thought the United States of America was the greatest country in this world, most agreed it was good as a white person but not overall
When asked if they could name a better country, none could
‘What is there to be proud about if you’re black? There’s still a lot of stuff that goes on for black people,’ one woman responded.
Another said the U.S. economy ‘just cares about money’ rather than people.
‘I’m from Georgia, and I never would have learned had I not taken those classes, just about the way the justice system works and zoning laws and I think college really opened my eyes to a lot of these things,’ another woman, a student of American University, says in the video.
None of those interviewed would agree with the statement that the U.S. is the ‘greatest country in the world,’ but neither could any of the subjects questioned name a ‘better country than the United States.’
‘To be a white person, it’s pretty good to live here. But overall, I don’t think it’s the greatest country in the world,’ one student said.
‘America is not really known for being the most hospitable place,’ another added. ‘ Even though we have a reputation where it’s like come here and be what you want to be and do what you want to be, it’s not really the most welcoming to most people.’
But when asked if there was a more welcoming country than the U.S., she was unable to provide an answer.
One woman said a ‘there’s probably a tiny European country that’s thriving’ could be better than America, while another said, ‘Europe’, despite it being an entire continent rather than a country.
Several of those interviewed also said they would happily give up their U.S. citizenship and just return to the country for vacations.
‘I feel like our economy just cares about money and not people’ said one woman, interviewed here
Black people who were interviewed has a negative view of the country when asked if they were proud of it