American Creed

What does it mean to be American?
What holds us together in turbulent times?

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Kennedy come together from remarkably different backgrounds, life experiences and points of view to explore the idea of a unifying American creed. Their spirited inquiry frames the stories of a range of citizen-activists striving to realize their own visions of America’s promise across deep divides.

American Creed premiered in February 2018 and was one of the most widely carried PBS documentaries of the year. The documentary relaunched in November 2018, followed by an all-new short film featuring teenagers whose perspectives on American ideals and identity have been influenced by seeing the documentary.

Learn more here: https://www.americancreed.org/

You can watch the documentary here (86 or 56 minutes):

https://www.americancreed.org/watch

You can see clips & stories here:

https://www.americancreed.org/stories

DEFINING THE AMERICAN CREED

This American Creed related reading list was developed by Citizen Film and its trusted advisors, including American historian David M. Kennedy and other public humanities scholars. The books and other readings included on this list may be helpful to those who view the documentary film and seek additional resources to continue their engagement with the themes and ideas in the film.

The American Creed PBS program and public engagement initiative gets its title from a phrase in Nobel Prize-winning economist Gunnar Myrdal’s An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (1944), a landmark study of American attitudes and beliefs during the Great Depression.

Myrdal wrote: “Americans of all national origins, classes, regions, creeds, and colors, have something in common: a social ethos, a political creed. It is difficult to avoid the judgment that this ‘American Creed’ is the cement in the structure of this great and disparate nation.”

Myrdal defined that creed as an abiding sense that every individual, regardless of circumstances, deserves fairness and the opportunity to realize unlimited potential. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was among Myrdal’s most attentive readers. In his most famous speech, Dr. King said:

“…even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed…”

Like Myrdal, Dr. King placed the American creed at the center of an American dilemma. “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.”

The American Creed documentary, and the accompanying public engagement campaign and education plan, are based on the premise that in every generation, a recommitment to that ‘promissory note’ is urgently needed.

Suggested Reading and Viewing:

● American Creed 2-minute trailer: https://vimeo.com/191090561 (password:equalopportunity)
● “The Lasting Legacy of An American Dilemma,” by The Carnegie Corporation (2004) https://www.carnegie.org/media/filer_public/98/65/9865c794-39d9-4659-862e-aae1583278a8/cc ny_cresults_2004_americandilemma.pdf
● “I Have A Dream,” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
● Freedom from Fear, by David M. Kennedy, Chapter 8, “The Cauldron of the Home Front”
● Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, by Condoleezza Rice
o Read an excerpt from this book here:
https://medium.com/freeman-spogli-institute-for-international-studies/americas-second-d emocratic-opening-d790c6356151

Additional Reading and Viewing:

● An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, by Gunnar Myrdal (1944)
● “American Denial” (documentary), a cinematic response to An American Dilemma: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/american-denial/
● “An American Dilemma: A Review,” by Ralph Ellison (1944) http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/an-american-dilemma-a-review/