It’s the 4th of July, and Americans are no longer in the mood for celebration.
Parades, fireworks, and even drones in the sky : the United States celebrates today Independence Day, as every year since 1776It is the patriotic moment par excellence, when we wear clothes in the colors of the flag to celebrate with family the pride of being American.
This year, however, it comes with a bitter aftertaste: “On this day of celebration of American democracy, many Americans are concerned about its future,” summary The Christian Science Monitor.
The Boston weekly visited a fireworks store in South Carolina that typically has its best sales on July 4. “But this year there was a downside,” says the manager, who believes that the “widespread discontent” may explain the loss of the sense of celebration.
“Many feel that something is wrong with the very soul of the nation,” and few are those who “trust their leaders to fix it,” the magazine continues.
Growing unease
“Does it feel weird to celebrate the 4th of July in the midst of the Biden-Trump chaos? You’re not alone,” also written USA Today, who believes that if Americans have gotten used to being “shaken and worried” for ten years, the recent context is “particularly worrying”. Nationally, more than three-quarters of them say “unhappy with the turn of events”, according to the latest Gallup Institute poll.
The discomfort has been growing, the Christian Science Monitor, who quotes Black Lives Matter protests following the police killing of George FloydOr the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
More recently, the soaring cost of living as well as the series of divisive decisions by the Supreme Court, dominated by conservativeshave “continued to fuel tensions,” analyze the article.
To top it all off, they now need choose between two candidates they no longer wantDonald Trump disturbing by its authoritarian tonesAnd Joe Biden on his health.
The collective narrative puzzle
Enough to erode national pride. According to Gallup, only 67% of adults today feel “very proud” or “extremely proud” to be American, down from 90% in 2003, remember The Washington Post.
The newspaper looks ahead two years, when America will celebrate its 250th anniversary “in a context of unprecedented political division”. What will remain of the famous national unity?
Because if on July 4th, “common history and sharing” are as important as “confetti”, How to develop a collective narrative of the United States today? asks the daily newspaper of the federal capital. Americans have two years to agree: “Who deserves to have his statue ?” “What stories can be included in libraries and textbooks ?” And especially : “When did America truly become a democracy, and is it still one today?”
Until then, Americans should try to rediscover the sense of celebration, he recommends USA Today, who thinks it is still possible to “finding a semi-patriotic middle ground.” This July 4th may not be yet that of implosion, concludes the American press.
