Media - Statements

STATEMENT OF RICHARD O’DONNELL
Executive Director of the Bradley Project on America’s National Identity

June 3, 2008

I’m Rick O’Donnell, Executive Director of the Bradley Project on America’s National Identity.

The release of today’s report is the continuation of a series of conversations that have been going on for nearly two years.  They started when a group of scholars met informally and discussed if the premise behind our national motto—E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One—was endangered.

After all, demographically, ethnically, socially, and in myriad other ways, America today is as diverse as ever in her history.  We regularly hear about division as well—between red and blue, rich and poor, elites and everyone else.

American pluralism seems to be alive and well, but what of American unity?

What are the consequences if our unity is frayed or lost—if we go from one, to many?  Are there steps to be taken to foster and protect our unity?  Such were some of the questions the Bradley Project explored.

With generous support from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, we convened a series of meetings with leading academics, public figures, journalists, educators, and policy experts.

These meetings, held during 2007, touched on topics such as what is American identity, what is the role of America in the world and how that shapes our sense of who we are as a people, how is assimilation going today, and what is the state of civic education?  The conversations from these meetings guided the work, findings, and recommendations of this project.

We also wanted to learn what a representative sample of Americans thought about these very issues.  That is why we commissioned HarrisInteractive to conduct a national poll.  With their expertise, we asked more than 2,400 Americans to share with us their thoughts about America’s national identity.

Taking the information from our meetings and poll, we’ve crafted a report.  Our intention is that the report be the starting point for a national conversation on these important issues.  Silent Spring in 1962 started a conversation that brought about significant changes to our environment.  A Nation at Risk in 1983 launched an ongoing national conversation that continues to reshape American education.  It is in this tradition that we release E Pluribus Unum.

Our initial printing of 5,000 copies will be shared with opinion leaders and shapers across the country.  We will be engaging the national political campaigns this year to join and, we hope, lead this discussion.   We are reaching our Members of Congress and leaders in communities throughout the nation.  In short, today is just the start of a comprehensive and committed long-term effort to engage the American people in a conversation about national unity and common purpose.  It will be a conversation to remind us Americans of who we are and what unites us.

I am going to turn the microphone over to one of the scholars who participated in our project from the very start, Jim Ceaser.  Jim is Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia.  He has written several books on American politics and political thought, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Florence, the University of Basel, Oxford University, and the University of Bordeaux.