Fourth of July Is Becoming a Republican Holiday

Academics believe Independence Day could become a holiday embraced mostly by Republicans. That needs to change. We need all Americans engaged.

Professors base their concerns on polling. The Washington Times reports on some of that polling.

THE WARNING SIGNS

• A Gallup poll reported Thursday that 58% of Republicans, 34% of independents, and 26% of Democrats said they are “extremely proud” to be American. That is down from 87% of Republicans, 65% of independents, and 62% of Democrats in the same poll last summer.
• A nationwide survey of 2,000 college students reported Tuesday that 76% of self-identified conservative undergraduates feel “proud to be an American,” while 40% of liberals feel likewise.
• A December 2020 study from the nonpartisan More in Common, US found that 34% of self-identified “progressive activists” and 51% of Generation Z were proud to be Americans.

A July 2018 Gallup poll found that just 23% of liberals were “extremely proud” to be Americans, compared with 65% of conservatives.

It explains why a lot of alleged liberals are demonizing the Fourth of July today.

“As a card-carrying liberal, I am both saddened and appalled by the way the left has ceded patriotism to the right,” said Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor in the history of education at the University of Pennsylvania.

“My fellow liberals need to reclaim this mantle of critical patriotism. Let’s teach our young people to love the idea of America so they will be inspired to make it a reality,” he said.

THE ACADEMICS HAVE A ROLE IN THIS

Robert Gmeiner, an assistant professor of economics at Methodist University in North Carolina, said a negative view of America’s “founding ideals of freedom and its history of emancipation” is turning more students away from patriotic displays such as flags and fireworks on the Fourth of July.

“I believe that Independence Day is indeed becoming a conservative holiday, but this is a result of a misguided view that America was not founded on freedom,” Mr. Gmeiner said.

True. It was founded on the promise of freedom. It took decades to reach its promise for black people. As one black person recently said, The Declaration of Independence was a promissory note. Many have died to fulfill that promise.

Trying to replace the actual founding of our nation with 1619 and CRT – communistic views of our nation is dangerous. The United States didn’t exist in 1619.

PROUD OF THE PRINCIPLES

You can’t be proud of everything America has done, but you can change that. It is why the founding principles are so important. It’s why the Fourth of July is important. We must return to them.

In a June 24 survey of 1,024 middle school and high school students, conducted digitally by the homework learning platform Brainly for The Washington Times, 53.9% of students said they had learned about the Fourth of July in school and 33.1% said they hadn’t. The remainder skipped the question.

It must be taught – correctly.

Independence Day should unite us, not showcase our differences.

We need the liberals back, not Antifa or BLM, liberals.

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