I guess, I would say the reason the average American is problematic is because our schools feed us too much "Founding Father" idealism. Americans are portrayed as heros of WW2. All the anti-communist propaganda you can imagine as well. And no one ever tells you about the horrors of former presidents. Or because by the point you're told of something bad, racist depictions of Indigenous people, black people have already got their hold on you.

Two boys