I have loved each part of the USA I have visited, and have covered about half of all the states. The people were kind and friendly, and like any other country didn't engage vistors and guests in policies like gun law and the penal system. They wanted us to see the best they had to offer, and we appreciated their hospitality.
When I went on a coach tour of the Southern States, as we drove acoss each state line we were given lots of information by the tour manager about things like local industry, correctional facilites and the death penalty, history including the slave trade, cotton fields, swamps and bayous, the Mississippi, civil wars and conflict with Britain, and the general geography of the region. It's shocking to learn about the disproportionate numbers of black people on death row, and to see gangs of mainly black prisoners cleanng state highways, wearing handcuffs and long chains. In a New Orleans hotel, we thanked the black porter for our cases being brought to our room and went to engage him in conversation, but he wasn't allowed to chat to us, and apologised! What was that about? All the higher grades of staff were white! On Bourbon Street? Didn't seem right.
It's gun laws, foreign policy, the death penalty that undermine this fabulous country. The USA does flex it muscles too much, but the people I met day to day weren't all loud and brash at all. Just friendly and helpful.