The Old School Core Values

Pride
We are African Americans of all backgrounds and ethnicities. We are proud of our heritage, and respect the lives, triumphs and tribulations of our forebears in this country and beyond. We aim to represent their greatest hopes for us and honor their memory.

Patriotism
The United States of America is our home, not simply by default but by choice. We take our duty to our home seriously and we defend it. We seek to improve it by our work and values and leave it better than we found it.

Family
We are extended families and we put family first. It is the primary organization to which our lives are dedicated. We fight for the proper upbringing of our children. We demand respect and consideration of our elders. We love and support our brothers and sisters.

Industry
We work twice as hard and sometimes get half as far, but we work with dignity and we expect and enjoy our rewards. We are not materialistic but we know the value of a dollar. We seek self-improvement through creativity, dedication and effort in our jobs, businesses and partnerships.

Piety
We have abiding faith in God and the principles of righteousness. We strive to be true to transcendent values and take the long view of our purpose on Earth. We conduct ourselves as vessels of spirit and we guard our own souls and the souls of others from corruption.

Liberty
We believe in the rule of law and rights of people to be free and to determine their own fate. We fight tyranny and oppression of all kinds keeping in mind the battles of those who struggled and died that we might be free.

Pluralism
We believe in a tolerant and open society, and we welcome all people to enjoy its benefits and responsibilities.

I've been thinking about a simpler way to express that perplexing thing that is my Conservatism. Yesterday somebody asked me about why I'm a Republican, suggesting that I'm a minority within a minority. I quickly replied that, no in fact I'm in the majority party whose president was re-elected, and then we (actually) went down that path of whether the President is legitimately the President. But then I got to the point of her question and headed back towards my epiphanies of 2003 which include references to Stalinism and respect for the middle class. Nothing I could explain without appearing to be an egghead, which I am, but every brilliant idea needs an elevator pitch.

For now, I'll stick to the core values, but I'm working on the pitch.