Our Comedic Start

​My wife, two teenage sons and I went to see Tommy Davidson perform at a San Francisco Bay Area comedy club a few years ago.  We got there early, and managed to snag seats upfront.   It was a great show.   We had a blast.

Tommy is a black comedian and movie star, who was adopted and raised by white parents.  I do not know whether or not this background presented challenges for him, but I suspect it now helps him come up with good lines and insightful perspectives on the subjects of race and identity.  If nothing else, it helped him make our family the brunt of a few good jokes that evening.

​You see, my wife is black, and I am white.   So, as soon as he spotted us, Tommy started talking about race.  A couple minutes into it, he decided to pick on us, and asked "What do you call those two...are they mixed, mallotto,  swirl babies..." and just about every other name one can imagine.  My wife, an outgoing performer in her own right, shouted back, "They're Afro-Irish!"   The crowd let out a roar, but Tommy one upped her, coming back with, "So they drink...and collect welfare." It was really funny, and we were in no way offended.   It was all good fun, everyone laughed, and it made the crowd think.

​While laughing, I am thinking, "that's Chris, and that's Nick."   I go on to think, "they are American."  Then the athlete and proud papa in me kicked in...so, I thought NO, they are not just American, they are "All American."   They represent the best of America, the melting pot, a mixture of all of us.  They are fully capable, confident, talented, good hearted individuals.  They are people we can all be proud to know and love.  They ARE the American Ideal, where all men (and women) are judged by WHO they are, not merely by HOW they look, WHERE they come from, or WHAT racial group they can be PUT INTO.  Like all of us, they are unique.  They are special.  They are All Stars in their own right.  They are All Americans.  

We liked the idea.   We liked the new, positive way of expressing one's identity, regardless of ethnicity. We thought the statement, "I Am All American" conveyed this message perfectly.   So, we decided to try to redefine the traditional concept of what it means to be All American - from just the blond haired, blue-eyed stereotype so many minorities negatively associate with the term - to the broader truly All American Ideal proposed centuries ago by our (sometimes hypocritical) founders, and the ideals put forth in The Declaration of Independence, and embodied by today's multi-ethnic, multi-racial nation.  So, WeAreAllAmerican.org, IAmAllAmerican.org, and their offspring were born.   Thank you, Mr. Davidson!

No Hyphen Needed

We understand many of the reasons why millions of people identify themselves as a hyphenated version of American.  To many, doing so is a source of, and/or expression of, pride, culture and history.   It is also a way to belong.  There is nothing wrong with this, but we believe The All American Ideal transcends these norms, and promotes a stronger, ever more confident identity.  

As such, we do not hyphenate "All American" because:
1. Hyphens imply something that is not whole unto itself.  
2. Hyphens look like mathematical minus signs.   All Americans are the SUM(+), not the difference (-), of two individuals.  Perhaps more precisely, All Americans are the sum of generations of people.  We belong, by not belonging, because we are all unique and special individuals, with different backgrounds, opinions and ideas.  This America, is fantastic!

This is why we do not hyphenate All American.   It is beautifully complete unto itself.

We Love Diversity, But We Are Not The Police

​We love diversity.   We love learning from others.  We love the mix and makeup of all the world's people, culture and creatures.  We are blessed to live in a time and place where we can easily experience more things, and more people.   We appreciate life's differences and distinctions.  They make each day more interesting.  We love beautifully wrapped packages, but cherish more, the gift within.

​We also love differences of opinion.  New perspectives challenge us to arrive at the best solution.  This requires strength, inner confidence, and real self esteem.  This is not a philosophy for the weak.  Soft minds, and weak people depend on dogma, social acceptance, peer pressure, and racism.  They are afraid to be - even politely - challenged, because they do not know how to defend their ideas.  By contrast, All Americans encourage dialog, challenging conversation, and civil, but passionate debate.
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​Our family, and families like ours, would not exist, if those before us had not risked their lives, and their families lives, pursuing civil rights, equal justice and the All American Ideal - where people are judged not by the color of their skin, religion, or sex - but rather the content of their character, their actions, their knowledge, their skills and their beliefs.   These are the ideals of an All American.

Prejudice and stereotypes still exists, and likely always will.  It is sad, disgusting, and unfair.  We must continue to stand up for freedom and equality for All Americans (and human rights across the globe).  That said, we also have to be careful not to confuse civil rights, equal justice and real freedom fighting, with well-branded, but diametrically opposed causes like Social Justice and the politically correct positions of the so called "diversity police."   Why?
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First, despite marketing efforts to make Social Justice seem like the next civil rights movement, it actually has nothing to do with civil rights.   Like many, we used to use the two terms (Social Justice and Civil Rights) interchangeably as well.  They sound like the same thing.  There is in fact, a big difference.  Hard to believe?  Look it up.  Civil Rights is a fight for freedom.   Social Justice minimizes freedom.  Social Justice IS NOT Equal Justice, it is UNequal Justice. It is in fact, a socialistic economic movement focused on the redistribution of wealth (Oxford), not freedom and blind justice for all.  This cause is not dedicated to ending racism, sexism, and the like, but, by targeting historically oppressed people, the people behind these pushes, blur the agenda.  They purposely position themselves this way to gain support, to gain mass, to gain political, not moral, might.  It is good strategy, but absolutely not a movement that can, or will, help All Americans prosper (particularly not the poor and the middle class). 
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Second, if you truly believe that all men (and women) are created equal, regardless of race or religion; then you must also believe All Americans - when unimpeded - are fully capable of succeeding largely on their own merits, or at least, with a little help from friends.  We believe there is a fine line between eliminating barriers to entry, enforcing justice equally, and  patronizing and pitying people.   Walls to freedom are racist, but softer, sweeter, condescending attitudes are too.   We contend, such positions show how little one actually appreciates and respects the strengths and drive inherent in All Americans, and our diverse cultures.

​Two wrongs do not make a right. Satisfaction, happiness and self worth only come from earned accomplishment. ​We need to strive to make our nation the most meritocratic in the world.  ​We need to tear down obstructions to others, but we do not believe in artificially advancing others either. The All American Movement sees a clear distinction between fighting for freedom, and taking the short term position of weakness, jealousy and guilt, promoted by many now socially acceptable organizations.​

Ending Racism

It is easy to mistake our efforts as a reaction to the Black Lives, All Lives, and/or Blue Lives Matter Movements.  The truth is, our efforts to solve our nation's biggest socioeconomic problems, improve K12 education, and end the violence too prevalent in too many of our cities, began over a decade ago. You are only hearing about us now, because our books and solution set(s) are finally ready for primetime as an overarching theme.

Our organization was founded upon a love of, and respect for, All Americans. That said, we realize that there are, and may always be, some level of racism in America, and the world.  Most people, of all persuasions, have some degree of inexperience, innocent ignorance, learned stereotypes, and bias built in. We believe the best way for us, and our children to minimize this, is to actually experience, communicate, and build friendships with people outside of our normal circles.  People have to step out of their comfort zone; and institutions such as schools, teams and businesses need to give people opportunities to interact.

In sports, an athlete is more likely to score if they stay focused on the goal.  Focusing on the flight of the ball causes one to miss the mark, badly.   Similarly, we believe the better way to eliminate the -isms of the world, and today's nasty political climate, is not to focus on the past, but rather to get people together, to keep our eyes on the prize, to relentlessly purse The All American Ideal, and The All American Dream.  We hope you do too.

We also believe harsh racism exposes inner weakness. It comes from feelings of inferiority, not superiority. Great people are confident. They exude abundance, not scarcity. They help others. They understand we all do well when each of us does better.

We fully support equality, civil rights, freedom and equal justice for all.  We believe organizations like BLM have serious points to consider, but we also do not agree with everything they stand for, as we believe whole heartedly in the free enterprise system, and the inherent goodness of most people.  We think these ideas and ideals transcend color, sex, and religious affiliation.  

In case you are curious about the image above, we offer a couple of shirt designs as a way to express support for civil rights.  The first, is a yellow triple-underlined All American logo. It acknowledges the good things the BLM movement has brought to the table, while standing proudly for All American ideals and ideas.  The second, I AM A SOUL design, plays off the famous I AM A MAN message. It is our way of reminding people that we are all more than a man (or woman). We are people with souls. We are creatures of God (for those who believe). We have innate value, and when we do wrong against another, we also blemish ourselves.

​The design is available with and without the thought, "Are we physical beings having spiritual experiences? or... Are we spiritual beings having physical experiences?" on the back. We believe a person's response to this fundamental question, impacts one's ultimate approach to the issues of the day.  Click the link or image above if you would like some All American apparel with one of these designs.
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