The American promise that everyone should have a fair shot to succeed has shaped our national identity—and has informed our proudest moments and most righteous laws.
But our core belief in opportunity for all has been living through some dark decades—times when individualistic narratives such as “family values” and “big government” and “personal responsibility” have drowned out the community-minded themes of equal opportunity that helped spawn the New Deal and the civil rights movement.
To help get public discourse—as well as public policy—back on the right track, an organization called The Opportunity Agenda has issued a new toolkit for elevating a narrative about opportunity, designed to unify social justice messages and bridge a range of issues.
One key takeaway: It’s not just important to connect policy solutions to the values that we all care about, it’s imperative if we want to make a difference.
Here’s a cheat sheet for talking about the shared values that underpin the proud Amerian ideal of opportunity for all.
