As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, one of the nation’s most prominent university professors has a very different message for Americans.

Eddie S. Glaude Jr., a professor at Princeton University and frequent television commentator, recently promoted his new book, America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries. In the book, Glaude writes, “I do not love America and never have, especially now.”

The statement is striking not only because of its bluntness but because it comes from a professor at one of the nation’s most prestigious universities as America approaches its semiquincentennial celebration.

Glaude elaborates that he finds it “misplaced or dangerous” to love something as “abstract and morally dubious” as America. While he distinguishes between love of country and affection for family, community, and personal experiences, the broader message remains clear: America is not a nation he loves.

That theme continued during a February MS NOW interview in which Glaude argued that America is being “hijacked” by white nationalists. He claimed that “white nationalists have seized control over the federal government” and asserted that President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have chosen a vision of America as a “white republic.”

Glaude went even further, describing current immigration enforcement efforts and political disputes as part of an “all-out assault on our democracy.” He repeatedly suggested that modern political debates are echoes of the Ku Klux Klan and America’s racist past.

Americans are free to disagree about politics, immigration, or history. Universities should encourage those debates. The more important question is why so many academic voices increasingly present America itself as the problem.

For decades, many institutions of higher education have emphasized America’s failures while giving far less attention to its successes. Students learn extensively about slavery, segregation, discrimination, and injustice. Those subjects deserve serious study. But too often, they are presented without equal attention to the nation’s extraordinary achievements: the expansion of constitutional liberty, the defeat of fascism and communism, unprecedented economic prosperity, and the steady extension of civil rights to groups once denied them.

The result is a generation increasingly disconnected from their country.

Recent polling suggests this trend is already visible. According to Gallup, only 58% of Americans in 2025 said they were extremely or very proud to be American, the lowest level recorded in the survey’s history. The generational divide is particularly striking. Just 41% of Gen Z adults reported being very proud to be American, compared to 83% of members of the Silent Generation.

YouGov found a similar pattern. In June 2025, 68% of Americans said they were proud to be American, down sharply from 83% just one year earlier. Younger Americans were among the least likely to express strong national pride.

Of course, no single professor caused those numbers. But voices like Glaude’s help illustrate the broader intellectual climate that many students encounter on campus. When influential academics repeatedly describe America as fundamentally racist, morally compromised, or controlled by white nationalists, it should not surprise anyone that younger generations become less attached to the country itself.

The timing makes the contrast even more remarkable. As America approaches its 250th birthday, millions of Americans are preparing to celebrate the nation’s founding principles and the opportunities the country has provided. Yet some of the loudest voices within elite academia appear determined to use the anniversary as an opportunity to focus primarily on America’s sins.

A healthy patriotism does not require pretending the country is perfect. America has made mistakes, sometimes serious ones. But patriotism does require recognizing that the United States is more than the sum of its failures.

If current trends are any indication, many students will hear far more about why America should be regretted than why it should be celebrated.