BACKGROUND
Since the terrorist attack on the American soil on September 11, 2001 (9/11), we, people in the United States, have been living in an unprecedented uncertainty, which has been translated into a profound social malaise and a lack of national self-confidence. The country is threatened by a great socio-cultural crisis.The future has never seemed so uninviting to so many of us who are convinced that their security is in peril, their precious liberty (the essence of Americanism) is under attack, their financial lives are being harmed by globalization, their hope is slipping away, their American dream is losing its meaning, and, worse, their inherent optimism is weakening. Consequently, a vicious type of nationalism is developing while a xenophobic wind is blowing on the country's social landscape.
Facing those new challenges, the American government has taken actions by creating the Homeland Security Department, revisiting the privacy right of citizens, re-examining fundamental American values, constructing walls on borders, and imposing new visa restriction for foreign students, researchers, and scientists. Some of us believe that America has the legitimate might and right to preemptively defend itself, by any means necessary. Many of us are convinced that the American government is losing control of its own foreign policy, running away from its moral responsibility as a superpower, and trying to find its way the wrong way in global affairs. Very few of us are indifferent to the gravity of the time.
Therefore, we, children of Native Americans, Pilgrims, Slaves, and other Immigrants, are now on the same boat sailing to the unknown, in a world that is more dangerous than ever. We must henceforth live respectfully and peacefully together, or perish all under the yoke of the common enemy from within: bigotry. We find ourselves in the post-nine-eleven society, ill prepared, disoriented and traumatized. We are questioning and redefining our uniqueness and oneness as a nation. Thus, when asked about the true meaning of American, we are met with the truth: from Native Americans to newly naturalized citizens, we all want a better life here, the American way: in the pursuit of happiness, with justice and liberty for all.
Above all, the real definition of American is as beautiful and mysterious as the American culture. It is a microcosm of humanity, a "1 + 1 = 3" cultural phenomenon, with the unknown entity embedded in the universality of The Pursuit of Happiness. To be an American is to belong to such wonderful embroidery of cultures. That is a strong fact. By separating clichés and falsehoods from that fact, we intend to promote intercultural communication, and defend what the great American rainbow-nation has been reinforcing since the Civil Rights Movement: the American living togetherness, a socio-cultural contract among Americans based on more than two centuries of spiritual growth. The USA is and has always been a global magnet attracting people from different racial and cultural backgrounds.
Now, America is in a dire need for help from all her concerned children and friends, to whom she offers dreams, opportunities, hospitality, and asylum. That is why we—believers in the everlasting improvement of America—are calling upon all minds, hearts and souls for a national movement under the banner of community solidarity and progressive patriotism. Such is the circumstance under which we are launching a Media Operation for Progress (MOP) to clear the social ground, and inviting you to join us in this noble cause: Save the American Living Togetherness (SALT). .
January 1st, 2006