Welcome to the Saturday edition of The Conversation U.S.’s Daily newsletter.
As I was editing a story this week, one statistic stood out to me: About half of Americans today are extremely or very proud to be American, compared with 82% just over a decade ago. The drop among Hispanic Americans has been even steeper – from 77% to 42% in the same period. Meanwhile, belief in the American Dream – the idea that hard work leads to opportunity – is also down among Hispanic Americans from two years ago.
American University’s Diana Orcés, who researches public opinion and immigration, writes that, amid aggressive federal immigration enforcement targeting Latino communities, Hispanic Americans are feeling like strangers in their own country. In her analysis of data from a Public Religion Research Institute survey, Orcés found the same pessimism among Hispanic Republicans, Democrats and independents.
Hispanic American voters have gravitated toward the Republican Party – and Donald Trump – in the past decade. We could ask ourselves what their souring on the American Dream means for the upcoming midterm elections, but perhaps the more salient question is why so many people are losing faith in this country’s promises – and what that means for the U.S. well beyond November.
This week we also liked stories about what mental health counseling should look like for older adults; the legal traps household tech, such as robotic vacuums, can get people in; and Pittsburgh scientists’ search for microbes that can eat industrial pollution.
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