Politically, there are two sides to America: Republican and Democrat. That much is clear in our divided nation. However, another chasm has developed in the last couple of years. Those who are proud to be American right now, and those who are not.

Many credit this shift to Donald Trump being elected to the presidency in 2016. Political analysts have coined the term “Trump effect” to describe the rise in hate crimes and anti-minority  hysteria. Psychology Today defines the term as “religious and racial bullying, as well as  misogyny, sexual assault, and other socially unacceptable behaviors.”

The “Trump effect” is not a unsubstantiated theory, and can be supported by the fact that in 2017-the first year Trump was in office- hate crimes rose 17% from 2016, the FBI reported.

Additionally, the number of Americans who feel proud to be American has fallen in recent years. A Gallup poll conducted annually for the last 17 years determined that Americans’ pride in their country is at its all time low. Only 52% of Americans reported that they were “extremely” proud of their country in 2016, as compared with 70% in 2003. Among Millennials, the number is even lower. Only 34% of Millennials report being extremely proud to be American in that same poll.

However, Donald Trump is not the sole cause of people’s disdain for America.

Many people are tired of what they consider a dysfunctional government. The fact that one of the biggest superpowers in the world can shut down their government for 35 days over funding disagreements has raised red flags for some.

As One Stone senior Arianna Carlson puts it, “Being in a country where the founding fathers took so much time and effort to create a system of checks and balances and then to see them misused through a forced shutdown has been extremely hard to watch.”

Other countries have also expressed dissatisfaction with the state of America in recent years.

As Americans, we often forget that we aren’t the only country in the world. Being “across the pond”, what goes on in other countries often takes second tier to what’s happening in our own country.

For as long as America has been a country, this has been the case. The current White House administration has only fueled the “America first” hysteria by quite literally basing their foreign policy on that concept.

This can lead to some far-from-positive views of America in other countries.

According to a Pew Research poll, confidence in Trump from other countries’ perspectives is wavering. 25 countries were surveyed, and 70% of them have no confidence in Trump. Furthermore, when asked if the U.S. takes into account the interests of other countries when making foreign policy decisions, 70% answered that the US doesn’t consider other countries when making policy decisions.

On the other side of the loving America argument are those who feel increased pride in their country since Trump took over in 2016.

Republican pride in our country has hit a five year high of 74% , with an overwhelming majority of  Republicans reporting extreme pride in their country in that same Gallup poll.

So how do we reconcile those who take extreme pride in our country with those whose confidence in the United States is diminishing?

Even though Carlson says there is room for change in the U.S., she also reflects on the positive change that has happened in recent U.S. history.

She states, “Watching the new legislators in DC working in both the House and Senate to create bills to reopen the government and pay employees…gives me hope. Seeing that they are holding true to the values that their constituents believe in is encouraging.”

Maybe it starts with realizing that first and foremost, we are all Americans. Whatever differences we may see in one another don’t  overpower the fact that we all yearn for the same principles. We all believe in freedom, equality, justice and a country that stands up for those ideals. We all believe in a more perfect union, and we shouldn’t give up on that dream that our forefathers so eloquently expressed at the start of our country.