I was reading an article the other day and I came across an interesting passage:

> 
> Notice that the weak form of *the* is typically [ði] before a
>  vowel-initial word (the apple) but [ðə] before a consonant-initial
>  word (the pear), **although this distinction is being lost in the United
>  States.** [26]
> 
> 
> 

I'm concerned with the United States part. Is it true that American speakers don't make this distiction? I have never found this information in any book on accents for English learners or actors. It seems to have been taken from this book: 

> 
> Ladefoged, Peter (2006), A Course in Phonetics, Thomson.
> 
> 
> 

Since I don't have it, and I can't find it anywhere on the Internet, I can't really check its contents. Are there any American speakers here who don't make this distinction when speaking? And even could provide some additional sources? As I can't find any. Thanks for your time. 

The link to the article: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_and_vowel_reduction_in_English>