The American Creed

In the film American Creed, it shows the different point of views from American citizens and their values and morals. In some cases people believe there is an American dream, or that education is the most valuable and important thing in America. There were 3 different points of views about the American Creed coming from Condelezza Rice, David M. Kennedy, and Joe Maddon,yet they all share something in common. They all share the idea to value community and family.

Condelezza Rice, a professor of political science, is one example of a different experience as an African American woman. She grew up in a segregated Birmingham Alabama, where finding an education was very difficult. She states that there is a big difference between the American dream and its reality, but because of her grandfather who she called “granddaddy rice” her family and community was able to reach their own American dream. Rice goes on to share her grandfather's legacy, and the work he put in for his community and family. He built churches and schools in his community to provide an education for all, and he had a common saying that “You can be and do anything you want but you can't leave anyone behind.” Based on this information we can conclude that Condeleeza’s American creed is community and family first; it is not only her creed but her grandfather's creed as well.

David M. Kennedy of the Kennedy family came from an Irish American family. Growing up his family and many others were living through the Great Depression. David Kennedy shares how his father worked in a factory during WW1, and he made a stable income to save a good amount of money for when the war was over in the early 1920’s. His father had started working for a mining company, which he was hoping to get a good pay out of, but sadly the big pay he was expecting never came, due to the great depression which led to the company he was working for to go bankrupt. He goes on to say how his father felt he had let himself and his family down, and blamed everything on himself, which shows that the American dream isn't always attainable no matter how hard you work for it, like in Kennedy’s fathers case. Kennedy then goes on to say “At times like this we need stories to bring us together.” This shows that if people came together to share their stories and connected as a community, people would have someone to relate to, since there were over 13 million people unemployed during the Great Depression, they should know it wasn't their fault. What we can also conclude from this is that Kennnedy values community as his American creed, since he says community is what they needed during times like those.

A third perspective of the American creed is Joe Maddon who is the manager of the Chicago CUBS baseball team. He was born and raised in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and his parents were immigrants that came from Europe. He talks about how his father worked in the coal mines to make a living for his family, until he died of black lung. Working in coal mines was one of the very few job opportunities in Maddon’s hometown, since job opportunities were scarce. He explains that some Anglo-Americans didn’t like and even still don't like Hispanic immigrants, and believe they are “ruining” the U.S by stealing jobs. Therefore there was a lot of discrimination towards immigrants in Hazleton, but there was still division between immigrants. So Joe Maddon wanted to create a place where immigrants of all colors and backgrounds could come together and relate, and form a community, like with baseball. He says “The moment we trust each other, at that moment we can build something.” Based on this information, it is evident that Joe Maddon believed bringing everyone together as a community, and setting our differences aside, we can truly have people there for us, and people to bond and relate to, which is why he chose to make a baseball program for kids of all backgrounds. This then goes to show how his creed is also community by bringing everyone together.

In conclusion, based on the 3 perspectives of Condoleezza Rice, David M. Kennedy, and Joe Maddon it is evident that many Americans share similar beliefs. Although they come from different backgrounds, are different races, there can still be similarities found within all the American stories and their creeds. So while yes the views on American creed are diverse, there are still similarities.