Yale professor urges students to ‘love America’ as patriotism slips to historic low

A Yale Law School professor is encouraging Americans to appreciate their country despite recent polls showing national pride has dropped to historic lows. 

In an interview with The Free Press, podcast host Bari Weiss asked Professor Akhil Reed Amar if people should love America. “Yes, I do, and you should,” Amar replied.

Amar, whose parents immigrated from India, emphasized gratitude for U.S. opportunities compared to global conditions. “My life is so much better than my parents’ was in India,” he said.

He contrasted the U.S. border wall with barriers built by communist regimes to keep citizens from escaping. 

“You know, we can debate the wall,” he said. “But the wall is to keep people out because people want to come here, as opposed to the Soviet Union and Eastern Germany, which had walls to keep people in.”

In an email to Campus Reform, Amar explained that his comments were motivated by his sense of history and geography.

“Along many dimensions, America in 2025 seems more impressive—more perfect, if you will—than America seemed in, say, 1825 or 1925,” he wrote. “For all our lapses, America in 2025 still seems better than most places around the world.”

When asked how students at elite campuses should reconcile critiques of American history with gratitude for current freedoms, Amar said students “should read both critiques and defenses of America and decide for themselves.”

“My own books try to present both America’s biggest lapses and America’s greatest triumphs,” he added.

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Amar also shared the message he hopes young Americans take away today.

“Constitutionally, at least, we are getting better, less imperfect, over the centuries,” he said. “Our past constitutional amendments have made amends for some of the nation’s biggest sins and lapses. Previous generations have improved the document, and so can our youngest generations if they do not lose heart.”

Amar also described current American life as historically fortunate.

“Our lives, they’re not perfect at all,” he said, “but you compare the general peace and prosperity of the United States. . .  These are the good ol’ days.”

His comments come as a June 2025 Gallup poll shows that only 58 percent of Americans are “extremely” (41 percent) or “very” (17 percent) proud to be an American, down nine points from last year and the lowest recorded since Gallup began asking the question in 2001.

The survey found generational differences, with only 41 percent of Generation Z adults saying they are extremely or very proud to be American, compared to 58 percent of millennials and 83% of the Silent Generation. Gallup reported that Democrats showed the steepest decline in pride, dropping to just 36 percent  this year. 

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However, military recruitment may suggest some changes in popular perception. The U.S. Army reported that it easily broke through its recruitment records following President Trump’s November election win, Campus Reform reported.