America Deserves Our Love, Even When It’s Hard
To love America only when our preferred party is in power is to misunderstand the very essence of patriotism.
By Hector Barajas, July 22, 2025 8:00 am
It should never be controversial to say you love your country. But today, that sentiment is increasingly filtered through party lines.
A recent poll has sparked a wave of concern, and rightly so.
According to newly released data, only 24% of Gen Z Democrats say they are extremely or very proud to be American. Among all Democrats, that number rises to just 36%. In stark contrast, 92% of Republicans report feeling proud of their country, a figure that has remained consistent even when Democrats held the White House. Perhaps most sobering of all: nearly a third of Gen Z Democrats say they have little to no pride in being American.
What does this reveal about the direction of our nation?
It tells us that for some, love of country is now conditional, filtered through the lens of politics, power, and personal worldview. But that’s not the America we inherited, nor the one we should pass on.
This nation was built by those who sacrificed everything.
Immigrants who left behind their homelands in search of hope.
Soldiers who stormed beaches, not knowing if they’d return.
Civil rights leaders who faced violence with courage.
Enslaved people who endured the worst of humanity, yet still dreamed of freedom.
These stories and this legacy should fill us with pride, even when our political system falls short.
Yes, we can criticize our country. We should. That’s how it gets better. But to love America only when our preferred party is in power is to misunderstand the very essence of patriotism.
True patriotism means engaging with your country even when it’s difficult. Especially when it’s difficult.
And that’s where we, as parents, teachers, and mentors, must step in. We can’t allow an entire generation to be raised believing that civic pride is something to be turned on and off based on who sits in the Oval Office. The ideals of liberty, justice, and free speech aren’t partisan; they’re American.
Diversity and inclusion should also apply to ideas, allowing space for differing opinions, political beliefs, and even the messy discomfort of disagreement. Among some in Gen Z, particularly on the activist left, civic pride seems tied to power rather than principle. That’s a dangerous trend. A rigidity that claims: “If I don’t control the system, the system is broken.”
Inclusion isn’t just about welcoming different identities. It also means welcoming different ideas, even those we disagree with. Because the truth is: you can love your country and still demand change. You can be proud of America and still want it to be better. That’s not hypocrisy. That’s hope.
Hope has always been one of America’s greatest traditions. But hope requires faith. And faith begins with pride, not in perfection, but in possibility.
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This is a fine statement, Hector. In the coming days we will see just how important this is. DNI Tulsi Gabbard has released the unclassified document that clearly shows that former POTUS Barrack Obama authorized the “coup” against the first Trump administration. The FBI raid on Mar-A-Lago was done to find THIS document that they THOUGHT President Trump had taken there. They were WRONG. Obama and his minions MUST be indicted and held accountable for their illegal actions. This goes BEYOND partisan political party side-taking. DEMOCRATS must condemn the actions of their leaders and join Republicans, Independents and all freedom loving Americans to prosecute these seditious conspirators. MAGA.
P.S. Correction……recently DE-classified formerly classified document, released by DNI Gabbard. My bad.
Hope is not a strategy rather passive fear predicated on the knowledge the situation before one has that person in a copeless state of mind.
You are correct that hope alone cannot substitute for a plan. You make a valid point. And both things can be true.
Hope alone is not the strategy. But hope can be the spark that makes strategy possible.
Here is how I was looking at the polling and my thoughts behind the article:
The people who built America’s legacy didn’t begin with spreadsheets and policy memos. They began with hope. Hope carried civil rights leaders into the streets in the face of batons and fire hoses. Hope kept abolitionists fighting long before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. These were acts of bold, often dangerous, defiance fueled by the belief that something better could exist.
In our focus groups with Gen Z, which we’ve conducted for clients, we have found that a lack of hope leads to inaction, apathy, and a general indifference. They don’t fight for change when they feel powerless. “Things are the way they are, I don’t have the power to change it.”
The idea here is that people fight when they believe change is possible. Hope is what can turn anger into activism, frustration into reform, and despair into determination.
Patriotism doesn’t mean denying flaws/problems. It means caring/loving/wanting our country enough to want it to be better, and believing it can be.
Yes, Hector. Hope was the gift that Andy gave to Red…..and the gift that Donald J. Trump has given to American patriots……Which is why, despite his mistakes and flaws, they love him.
“….. hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies….”
https://youtu.be/CkxXGxa2JkU?si=aVBMClzXDIXDo9ia
Thank you, Raymond, for your comments.