Once a year, Americans from all walks of life flock to local parks, spread blankets, unfold lawn chairs and settle in for what an outsider might see as an oddly childish fascination with blowing things up in the sky.
Fireworks.
For some, the Fourth of July is nothing more than this — an excuse to gather with loved ones and revel in the sights, sounds and smells of a fireworks show that entrances young and old alike. For others, this tradition runs deeper.
Though the Fourth of July has historically been a day spent celebrating the United States’ birthday, marked by its independence from England, a recent Gallup poll found that American pride has reached a historic low.
Amid severe political polarization, discontent with the state of both political parties and general frustration with the country’s current direction, 58% of U.S. adults, surveyed between June 2-19, described themselves as “extremely” or “very” proud to be an American. This marks a 9 percentage point drop from 2024 and a 5 point drop from 2020, which was previously the record low.
The Dispatch took to the bustling crowds of Red, White and BOOM! — the largest fireworks show across the Midwest, set in the heart of downtown Columbus — to chat with locals about their attitudes toward the U.S. on the eve of its 249th birthday.
Beyond general dissatisfaction with the state of politics, recent polling has shown that the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which passed in the House of Representatives hours before Red, White & BOOM!, is largely unpopular with the U.S. public. A Pew Research Center study conducted in early June found nearly half of Americans oppose the megabill, while only 29% favor it and other 21% are unsure.
Despite the data, 41-year-old Todd Ireland, a mortgage underwriter from Hilliard, is unequivocally proud to be an American, especially under the Trump administration.
“We live in a terrific country that’s afforded us a lot of opportunities that other individuals living in other places in the world simply don’t have access to,” Ireland said. “It makes me proud to be a part of that.”
Identifying neither as a Republican nor a Democrat, Ireland said he thinks both parties have let the country down, and he respects that Trump “does what he says he’s going to do.”
Todd Ireland, 41, at Red, White & BOOM! on July 3, 2025.
Sarah Kirwin, however, sees things differently. A 37-year-old from Delaware who works in HR, Kirwin said she’s disappointed in the state of the nation and feels that Trump doesn’t truly care about the American people.
That, she said, is part of the reason why she thinks being patriotic is all about speaking up — even if it means criticizing the country and its leaders.
“It means being willing to say something when something’s wrong and not just saying, ‘Oh, it’s what we’ve always done,'” Kirwin said. “The world changes. People change.”
Sarah Kirwin, 37, at Red, White & BOOM! on July 3, 2025.
Kirwin’s 9-year-old daughter Ellie said she likes living in America, especially because there are “lots of different kinds of people.” But Ellie, who said she talks with her grandma about topics like these, is not a fan of the country’s leader.
“I don’t think that Donald Trump should be the president,” Ellie said. When asked why, the answer was simple. “Because of girls’ rights.”
J’nez Thomas, a 41-year-old from Downtown Columbus and owner of local business Sugaring NYC – Gahanna, doesn’t feel too far off from Ellie.
An eight-year veteran of the U.S. Army who left the military in 2013, Thomas said she’s always felt connected to her country because of the oath she took, but it’s hard to feel completely proud when “we’re still fighting for some of the basic equality rights for every American.”
“Even though I served, I still experience, in some form, discrimination,” Thomas said. “Whether it be from being an African-American woman or being a woman, sometimes my military career doesn’t give me any saving grace.”
J’nez Thomas, 41, at Red, White & BOOM! on July 3, 2025.
Of those who answered June’s Gallup poll, 92% of Republicans identified as “extremely” or “very” proud to be an American, showing a 7 point increase from 2024. Since the early 2000s, Republicans have consistently reported higher levels of national pride than Democrats or Independents.
For Calvin Smith, a retired 68-year-old janitor and a registered Republican, feeling American pride is more straightforward.
“You got your freedom, you get to do what you want, and you get to say what you feel,” Smith said. “I never fell out of love with my country.”
Calvin Smith, 68, at Red, White & BOOM! on July 3, 2025.
Randy Urban, a 54-year-old registered Republican who works an IT job in Lancaster, acknowledged that “this country is not a perfect country,” but he’s proud to be an American because of the opportunities for success and freedom of choice that come with living here.
Serving in the U.S. Army from 1988 to 1996, Urban said he witnessed that reality firsthand.
“Being in the military, in other countries, you don’t really seem to have a lot of those choices and options to control your own destiny to a lot of degrees,” Urban said. “Depending on the effort and the amount of work that you put in, you can determine your results and your outcome.”
Randy Urban, 54, at Red, White & BOOM! on July 3, 2025.
Democrats, on the other hand, were mostly responsible for this year’s shift in attitudes toward the U.S., with 36% describing themselves as “extremely” or “very” proud to be an American in the Gallup poll. This marks a 26 point decline from last year and only the second time Democrats’ pride has dropped below the majority level.
Booda Love, a 19-year-old University of Toledo student whose mom lives in Columbus, said his feelings about being an American are complicated. Seeing his campus’ Black Student Union, of which he was a member, and other minority-focused resources either renamed or phased out altogether has made it hard for him to feel proud of his country.
Love specifically pointed to the Eberly Center for Women, which offers free STI testing, contraception and sex-education resources. When it was rebranded as the Eberly Center for Student Experience, Love called the change “disgusting to see.”
“You’re basically telling us that you hate women, because this is one of the only buildings that was dedicated not to a white man, but dedicated to women, and they named it something else,” Love said. “Things like that make me ashamed, because if we can’t protect our women, if we can’t protect diversity, which makes America what it is, then what are we protecting?”
Booda Love, 19, at Red, White & BOOM! on July 3, 2025.
Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com, or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus residents reflect on national pride at Red, White & BOOM!