Black Americans in AP-NORC poll rarely fly flag

In a new AP-NORC survey ahead of the U.S. turning 250, many Black Americans say they never display the American flag—tying their choice to lived history of exclusion—while Republicans and older Americans are far more likely to fly it.

DETROIT — Jerry Esters stands in front of the American flag outside his home, the same one he says he puts up every day. A few miles away, Yvonne Pistochini keeps the Stars and Stripes out of her space entirely. She doesn’t describe it as preference. She describes it as a line she won’t cross.

Both are Black. And in a nationwide moment heading toward the country’s 250th birthday celebration, the contrast between their decisions is being echoed across the statistics: views of “Old Glory” are sharply divided by politics, age and race.

Esters, 64, is a retired clay sculptor for a Detroit automaker. He says he flies three American flags at his Sherwood Forest home on the city’s west side. For him, the flag points to the opportunities that let him and his family rise.

“When these homes were built, Black men like me, my mother and my family … we couldn’t even buy these homes,” Esters said. “To me, that’s one reason I fly the flag. We went through a lot to be able to own nice homes, and this is what we fought for.”

He also ties his display to family history. He says his great-great-grandmother, Moriah Martin, was born into slavery.

“I’m kind of living out her dreams — what I did for a living, having a business, having a nice home,” he said. “I think that’s the American way, but we got to fight for it and we, as Blacks, fought for it.”

Esters may be in a minority among Black adults, according to the survey. The research found that only about 3 in 10 Black adults say they ever display the American flag, compared with about half of white and Hispanic adults.

Pistochini, 79, doesn’t see the flag that way. She says there is no scenario under which she would allow it to cast its shadow where she lives.

She points to current divisions and inequality of opportunity for poor people and people of color as realities she doesn’t think the flag should be used to paper over.

“People confuse flying it with being patriotic,” Pistochini said. “Just because you fly a flag doesn’t make you a patriot. If there was patriotism, we would not have all this. We can’t look at (what’s going on) and say this is America.”

The survey, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, asked 2,596 adults in the United States between April 16 and April 20.

Across the country, the poll suggests that for many Americans, flag display is tied to identity—especially political leanings. About half of U.S. adults said they display the flag at home throughout most of the year or during holidays. About 7 in 10 Republicans and about 6 in 10 Americans ages 60 and older fly the flag at least during holidays.

But about 6 in 10 Democrats and independents say they “never” fly the U.S. flag, including 75% of Democrats under 45.

Matthew Delmont, a professor of American history at Dartmouth College, put it in terms of what people believe the flag can represent.

“A lot of Black Americans see the flag as a symbol of both inclusion and exclusion,” Delmont said. “Black Americans. more so than white Americans. also understand the flag can be used to justify a version of patriotism that is rooted in exclusion. with the flag being used to say ‘you don’t belong here.’”.

For those who see the flag as central to their identity, the meaning is simpler. Ben Gaskins, chair of political science at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, said the symbol holds special weight for many Americans.

“It is those who are older people, who are white and people who are more conservative,” Gaskins said. “They take it as more central to their identity.”

Nancy Hansen, 73, a retired Customs and Border Protection clerk in Culvertson, Montana, said the flag is a question of loyalty. She believes “you have to be for the country, no matter what” and that the flag means “freedom.”

“Freedom to live where we want to live, travel where we want to travel, raise our kids where we want to raise our kids,” Hansen said. She is white and identifies as Republican.

Each year around July 4, the American Legion posts flags outside businesses and homes in Culvertson, including Hansen’s home.

In Pontiac, Michigan, Linda and Greg Cunningham fly the American flag outside their home northwest of Detroit. They say they’re going all out this summer, with the exterior awash in red, white and blue, and a flagpole just feet from their door.

“It’s no political thing, at all,” said Linda Cunningham, 63. “It’s our freedom. I love the American flag. I love the whole concept of it. I love America. I know there’s so much going on in the world. right now. and I know everyone has their own views. and I’m just sad that politics have to be brought into the flag.”.

The poll also asked Americans whether the flag is unifying or divisive. Of those who responded, 47% see the flag as a “more unifying” symbol. About 16% call it a “more divisive” icon, while 36% say it’s neither divisive nor unifying.

But the numbers split hard along racial lines. Only 22% of Black adults see the flag as a unifying symbol, compared with 55% of white adults and 42% of Hispanic adults.

“Allison Wiltz, a Black author and founder of Writers and Editors of Color, described the flag as painful for reasons tied to broken promises.

“It’s a painful symbol. It’s a reminder of what we could be and how it’s failed to live up to that for Black people, for Indigenous people and people of color,” Wiltz said.

Some people who occasionally fly the flag say they do it with caution. separating pride from what they see as modern politics around it. Paul Walthour, 71, occasionally flies the flag outside his Minneapolis-area home on special occasions and some holidays. He said that when he’s away from home and at his cabin. the flag goes up each morning and is taken down at the end of the day.

“This is antiquated, perhaps,” Walthour said. “I feel it’s a symbol that you’re proud to be an American.”

But Walthour also said the flag has come to carry a different weight in today’s political landscape.

“Unfortunately, I kind of think it’s a symbol of dividing more than uniting,” added Walthour, who identifies as a Democrat. “The people who fly it on the far right have one kind of feeling about it, and the people who fly it on the left have a different kind of feeling about it.”

The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

AP-NORC poll American flag Old Glory Black Americans race politics patriotism Democrats Republicans Detroit symbolism