NPR Softens Language on Use of Violence in Poll

By Saige Miller , Maham Javaid Participants wear American flags while marching in the 67th annual El Sereno Independence Day Parade in the predominantly Latino community of El Sereno on June 27 in Los Angeles. People around the nation are gearing up for America's 250th anniversary, which will be marked on July 4, 2026, commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption American pride is strong, the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found, but nearly one-third of Americans say they are worried about the direction the U.S. is headed in, and almost half of Americans think the country has moved far away from the nation's founding principles. The way Americans are feeling about the country today is largely split along partisan, gender and generational lines. The survey of 1,340 respondents was conducted June 8-11 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percentage points, meaning results could be about 3 points higher or lower. Respondents were surveyed online and by phone and text. NPR followed up with several poll participants about their thoughts about America ahead of the 250th anniversary. Even though some Americans believe the nation is on the wrong track, the majority say they're "proud" or "very proud" to be an American. Loading... David Walsh, 62, a retired teacher from New Jersey who identified as a Republican, said he feels very proud. Some of the liberties he appreciates are "The ability to think how I want, to help out who I want and to try to do things that are good for me and others," he said. For Walsh, watching global fans visiting the U.S. for the FIFA World Cup and enjoying things that Americans often take for granted, such as department stores, air conditioning and the variety and abundance of food, has been a reminder to him about how much the country has to offer. "We have a lot of great things here. That's why people want to come here," he said. "Go live in that other country you think is better, and they'll be coming back here in a year." Meanwhile, 35% of respondents overall said they aren't proud to be American. Christopher James, 59, a federal employee based in Maryland who identified as a Democrat, said his feelings about his country are mixed. "I'm proud of some of the achievements that we've made in a variety of ways in the world," James said. "But it's hard to feel absolute pride considering the conflicts that are going on in our society right now," he said, referring to what he sees as some Americans' unwillingness to compromise with people who don't share their point of view and those who rely on emotion over logic. About 83% of Americans believe the country has moved away from its "founding principles." This is higher than it was when the country marked its bicentennial in 1976. Then, the nation was recovering from the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. At the time, a poll conducted by the Roper Organization, now called the Roper Center, found 30% of respondents thought Americans had moved far away from its founding principles; 46% of Americans thought the U.S. had moved somewhat away from them; and 18% said America still stood on its founding principles. Now, 50 years later, nearly half of Americans say the country has moved far away from those principles, 36% say the nation has moved somewhat away from the founding ideals, and 16% believe the country still represents those values. Loading... Breaking the results down by political party affiliation, when poll participants were asked about where the nation stood on its founding principles, Democrats were much more likely than Republicans to say it has moved away. Only 13% of Democrats said the nation hasn't veered from the founding principles, while 20% of Republicans believe the nation still reflects them. John Grigg, 59, an election officer from Virginia who identifies as an independent, noted he feels "embarrassed" to be an American at this moment. He thinks America's 250th anniversary is more about President Trump than it is about celebrating the nation. Grigg told NPR he remembers celebrating the U.S. bicentennial as a young child. "I was in school at that time, and we learned about the Revolutionary War and things like that," he said. "Celebrating how America had become America at that point versus now, where America is, it just looks like two different places." Younger generations are more likely than older generations to say America aligns with those founding ideals. About 21% of Gen Z respondents said America still represents the founding principles, while only 19%, 14% and 13% of millennial, Gen X and baby boomer generations, respectively, thought so. Politics Poll: Most say the state of the union is not strong and the U.S. is worse off Matthew Norton, 40, a professional role-playing games facilitator from Oregon, said it's a good thing that the U.S. seems to have left its founding principles behind because the country was built on a very narrow point of view of what people were worth. "I think that an appeal simply to how it used to be done isn't the way I want to look at things," he said. "I'd rather look at the way things should be done as opposed to how they used to be done." When thinking about an increasingly polarized and divided nation, 82% think a serious threat to democracy exists. That's a four-point jump since February. And 35% of Americans currently disagree with deploying violence to fix their concerns about the direction of the country. But only 27% strongly disagree, which is down from 36% in October. James, the federal employee from Maryland, said he hopes that Americans don't choose that path. "People think it will solve their problem, but it will create so many more," he said. "And once you do that, you can't go back. All the norms and society get damaged in that way." Grigg, the elections worker, doesn't think a civil war is on the horizon, but he isn't ruling out the possibility of violence. "I hate to see it. But in some cases. The violence may be what is needed to influence some people's decisions," Grigg said. Politics Poll: More Americans now agree political violence may be necessary to right the country Hope on the horizon The majority of Americans also think America's best days are yet to come. Jason Withington, 42, who works in information technology in Missouri, said he still believes in the American dream, even if conditions, like the economy, make it tougher to achieve. He does think that America's best days are yet to come, but if future generations are to be prosperous, certain things need to happen. "We gotta get this debt under control," Withington said, referring to the $39 trillion national debt. "In order for our economy to keep growing and for my kids' generation and my grandkids' generation, if I'm blessed with grandkids, we got to get the debt under control or our best days will not be ahead of us." Withington considers himself a moderate. He's voted for both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. Loading... Despite the majority of those in the poll who believe the country's best days are yet to come, they're not convinced future generations will be better off. When asked to think ahead to America's 300th anniversary, 59% of respondents said that they're not too confident or not confident at all that the future is brighter for up-and-coming generations. Arlene Stillwell, 60, a retired college professor from New York, said she feels ashamed of the current government but still blessed to live in the U.S. and hopeful about the future. Like other survey respondents, Stillwell, a Democrat, has found a lot of hope witnessing Americans welcome visiting soccer fans. "That gives me hope that maybe the problem is not the American people, it's who we've elected," she said. "And maybe we need to do some deep reflecting on this next round of elections coming up this fall and then again in two years." Stillwell said in the future she's hoping for universal basic income, universal childcare, universal healthcare and universal basic housing. "We just cured someone of sickle cell anemia that just happened in Louisiana," said Stillwell.