American Identity Debate: Creedalism and Culture Must Be Melded

As an African American, I welcome the discussion about the efficacy of America’s creedal identity. Michael Brendan Dougherty’s recent piece (“Are Americans a People with a Creed, or a Creed-Made People?”) raises some pertinent issues for those who appear to question America’s creedalist notions and their role in the formation of an American identity.

It’s simply not the case that most of those who question the efficacy of creedalism would prefer to have a blood-and-soil or ethnicity-based understanding of what constitutes an American. I’m adamantly opposed to such a preference. One of the major sub-plots driving the current discussion about creedalism is the recent resignation of Princeton professor of jurisprudence Robert P. George from the Heritage Foundation board of trustees. He stepped down in protest over Heritage’s refusal to retract a video released by its president in response to Tucker Carlson’s interview of antisemite Nick Fuentes and Kevin Roberts’s doubling-down in his defense of Carlson. In a statement released following his resignation, Professor George effectively captured the power and appeal of creedalism:

About the Author

Andre Archie

Andre Archie is an associate professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. His latest book is The Virtue of Color-Blindness.

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As an African American, I welcome the discussion about the efficacy of America’s creedal identity. Michael Brendan Dougherty’s recent piece (“Are Americans a People with a Creed, or a Creed-Made People?”) raises some pertinent issues for those who appear to question America’s creedalist notions and their role in the formation of an American identity.

It’s simply not the case that most of those who question the efficacy of creedalism would prefer to have a blood-and-soil or ethnicity-based understanding of what constitutes an American. I’m adamantly opposed to such a preference. One of the major sub-plots driving the current discussion about creedalism is the recent resignation of Princeton professor of jurisprudence Robert P. George from the Heritage Foundation board of trustees. He stepped down in protest over Heritage’s refusal to retract a video released by its president in response to Tucker Carlson’s interview of antisemite Nick Fuentes and Kevin Roberts’s doubling-down in his defense of Carlson. In a statement released following his resignation, Professor George effectively captured the power and appeal of creedalism: