Memorial what?
By mludwig on May 18, 2009 at 2:26 PM
I'm a sucker for these surveys, basically written versions of Jay Leno's man-on-the-street interviews exposing Americans' ignorance of history, geography and politics.
Our Fading Heritage: Americans Fail a Basic Test on Their History and Institutions found that Americans primarily view Memorial Day as a day off from work and know nothing about the things they are supposed to be memorializing.
The survey, a 33-question civics test, was given to 2,508 random Americans by the National Civic Literacy Board of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, an organization devoted to strengthening patriotic education in schools.
The results? Americans overwhelming failed with an average score of 49 percent and patriotic questions took the backseat to pop culture.
"While Americans enjoy the freedom of this three-day weekend, it seems they are largely unaware of the history of our country's struggle to secure and maintain that freedom," said Richard Brake, Co-Chairman of ISI's National Civic Literacy Study.
Example questions from the civic literacy test:
Name two countries that were America's enemies during World War II?
68% answered correctly
What part of the government has the power to declare war?
Take the quiz yourself!