DETROIT (AP) — Jerry Esters proudly displays the American flag from his Detroit home every day. Yvonne Pistocini, a few miles away, says there is no scenario in which she would allow the Stars and Stripes to cast its shadow where she lives.
Both are black.
For Esters, the flag symbolizes the opportunities that allowed the great-great-grandson of slaves to achieve success and prosperity. Pistocini, 79, says simply that the America represented by the flag is not the country she saw as a child.
According to a new survey conducted by the organization The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on the eve of the celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Jerry Esters stands in front of an American flag outside his home in Detroit on June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Corey R. Williams)
Jerry Esters stands in front of an American flag outside his home in Detroit on June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Corey R. Williams)
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Republicans and older white adults are more likely to say they fly the American flag, while younger Democrats and black people are more likely to say they do not fly it. Opinions about the flag (and whether it is a unifying or divisive symbol) coincide with the opinions of other people. deep divisions among Americanswho see the history and achievements of their country in a completely different way.
“Many black Americans view the flag as a symbol of both inclusion and exclusion,” said Matthew Delmont, a professor of American history at Dartmouth College. “Black Americans, more than white Americans, also understand that the flag can be used to justify a version of patriotism that is rooted in exclusion, where the flag is used to say, ‘You don’t belong here.'”
The survey of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20. This suggests that older white Americans, especially Republicans, are more likely to see the flag as unifying.
About half of U.S. adults said they display the flag at home most of the year or during the holidays. About 7 in 10 Republicans and about 6 in 10 Americans age 60 and older raise the flag at least during the holidays.
On the other hand, about 6 in 10 Democrats and independents say they “never” fly the U.S. flag. This includes the vast majority, 75%, of Democrats under 45.
Opportunities worth fighting for
Esters, a 64-year-old retired clay sculptor who works for an automaker in Detroit, flies three American flags above his home in Sherwood Forest on the city’s west side.
“When these houses were built, black men like me, my mother and my family… we couldn’t even buy these houses,” he said. “To me, that’s one of the reasons I’m raising the flag. We’ve been through a lot to be able to own beautiful homes, and that’s what we fought for.”
Another reason is Moriah Martin, Esters’ great-great-grandmother, who was born into slavery.
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“I’m kind of making her dreams come true – what I did for a living: I have a business, I have a nice house,” he said. “I think it’s the American way, but we have to fight for it, and we blacks fought for it.”
It is in the minority among black adults, compared with about half of white and Hispanic adults, according to a poll that found only about 3 in 10 black adults say they have ever displayed the American flag.
Pistocini says the current divisions over political views and views, as well as the disparity of opportunity for poor people and people of color, are not what she thinks the flag should mean. People confuse flying with patriotism, she added.
“Just because you fly a flag doesn’t make you a patriot,” Pistocini said. “If there was patriotism, we wouldn’t have any of this. We can’t look (at what’s going on) and say this is America.”
For country and freedom
Ben Gaskins, chair of the political science department at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, says the flag is an important symbol of patriotism for many Americans.
“These are older people, white people and more conservative people,” Gaskins said. “They see it as more important to their identity.”
American flags fly in front of the US Capitol at dawn on October 1, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demari Nihinson, File)
American flags fly in front of the US Capitol at dawn on October 1, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demari Nihinson, File)
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Nancy Hansen, a 73-year-old former Customs and Border Protection officer in Calvertson, Montana, believes that “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 children where we want to raise our children,” said Hansen, a white man who identifies as a Republican.
Every year around the Fourth of July, the American Legion displays flags outside businesses and homes in Calvertson, including Hansen’s home.
Linda and Greg Cunningham fly an American flag outside their home in Pontiac, Michigan, on June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Corey R. Williams)
Linda and Greg Cunningham fly an American flag outside their home in Pontiac, Michigan, on June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Corey R. Williams)
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Linda and Greg Cunningham also equate the flag with freedom.
This summer, a white conservative couple from Pontiac, Michigan, is going all out. The exterior of their home northwest of Detroit is painted red, white and blue. The flag hangs on a flagpole a few feet from their door.
“It’s not a political issue 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 transferred to the flag.”
Flag as “painful reminder”
Of those who took part in the survey, 47% consider the flag a “more unifying” symbol. About 16% call it a “more divisive” symbol, while 36% say it is neither divisive nor unifying.
Only 22% of black adults consider the flag a unifying symbol, compared with 55% of white adults and 42% of Hispanic adults.
“It’s a painful symbol. It’s a reminder of what we could have been and how we failed to live up to that for Black people, Indigenous people and people of color,” said Allison Wiltz, a Black writer and founder of Writers and Editors of Color.
Paul Walthour, 71, occasionally displays the flag outside his Minneapolis home on special occasions and some holidays. Walthur says that when he is away from home and in his hut, the flag is raised every morning and taken down at the end of the day.
“It might be outdated,” said Walthour, who is white and a former ad agency creative director. “I think it’s a symbol of being proud to be an American.”
“Unfortunately, I think it’s kind of a symbol of division rather than unity,” added Walthur, who identifies as a Democrat. “People who fly on the far right have one feeling about it, and people who fly on the left have a different feeling about it.”
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Williams is a member of the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Sanders and Parvani reported from Washington.
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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 sampling margin of error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.