Restoring America is running a new kind of think tank series, “The Right Way Forward,” which does not ask conservatives to speak as a chorus but to argue in earnest over the defining questions of the post-Trump conservative movement.In May, leading conservative think tanks squared off on the role of the state in the economy. The second installment of this project asks conservatives to confront what American identity is today — and how that answer applies to various policies.For generations, immigrants arrived in America knowing they were joining a country with a distinct character rooted in a set of ideals and values. They knew that there was an expectation of assimilation, and this was something they generally understood and embraced. But today, the American creed and America’s cultural heritage are openly repudiated on the Left as a rationalization for historical oppression.
The consequences have been profound. Assimilation has been recast as cultural erasure. Hyphenated identities have replaced or are replacing the common American one. And a generation of immigrants has been actively encouraged to maintain ethnic loyalties while regarding American identity with suspicion rather than pride.Meanwhile, on the Right, there is significant tension over the fundamental nature of American identity. Is America primarily a creedal nation, rooted in the ideals of the Declaration of Independence? Or is it a nation shaped by a specific cultural and civilizational inheritance?Here’s what the experts had to say. Click through to read their full pieces for the Washington Examiner:Pluralism is our strength
