Eric Liu: All Publications, Events and Press

Eric Liu in USA Today | 'Poll: Flag Pins, Protests Both Patriotic'

Communications — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:36:00 -0400

New America in the News:
..."The wellspring of patriotism is very deep across party, across region, across demographics," says Eric Liu, a former White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and co-author of The True Patriot, which explores the meaning of patriotism... LINK

Eric Liu on KUOW Radio| 'The True Patriot: the Opportunity and Responsibility of Citizenship'

Communications — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:03:00 -0400

New America in the News:
How do you define patriotism in America in 2008? Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer wrote a little red book called The True Patriot. They want to remind people of their responsibilities as American citizens. Have liberals run away from the concept of patriotism? Has the concept of patriotism been turned into a political cudgel that squelches open discussion? Can the left and right agree on what patriotism means? Are you a patriot? Does the word patriot make you uncomfortable? LINK to audio

Eric Liu in TIME | 'The New Patriotism'

Communications — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:04:00 -0400

New America in the News:
...What we need going forward is third-way patriotism, a new patriotism that blends the faith of our fathers with, as Lincoln said, the unfinished work remaining before us. That new patriotism, as Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer write in The True Patriot, means "appreciating not only what is great about our country but also what it takes to create and sustain greatness..." LINK

What is True Patriotism?

Communications — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
03/06/2008 - 6:00pm

Has the right hijacked patriotism? Has the left ceded it? Does wearing a flag lapel pin make you a true patriot? Is dissenting against a war truly patriotic? Who decides?

Written by former speechwriter and senior domestic policy advisor to President Clinton, Eric Liu, and Seattle-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Nick Hanauer, The True Patriot argues that in these cynical times there should be a higher call: to country first.

The True Patriot urges us to reconnect with our original and patriotic traditions - country above self, contribution above consumption, stewardship over exploitation, and freedom with responsibility.

Join the New America Foundation for a special discussion and cocktail reception on the true meaning of patriotism and its importance for the United States with Eric Liu.

Copies of The True Patriot will be sold at this event.

For more information on this book, please click here.

Eric Liu on WTOP Radio | Interview on The True Patriot

Communications — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:23:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Interview on The True Patriot (WTOP Radio, DC)

Author Eric Liu discusses American patriotism and his new book, "The True Patriot," with WTOP Radio in Washington, DC. Please find the transcript below, and audio of the interview linked as an attachment at the bottom of the page. Visit WTOP.com for more news.

WTOP: Three names for you now: John McCain, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. Of those three, who would you say is a patriot? Well many people might say all three are patriots, running for President, but surveys show the word “patriot” is most frequently connected with McCain and other Republicans. A new book is trying to change our definition of patriotism: it is called The True Patriot, co-written by Eric Liu, who used to write speeches for President Clinton, and Liu talked with me a little earlier about this:

ERIC LIU: One of the things that’s remarkable about American politics today is that for too many of us, the word “patriot” conjures up somebody who is a conservative. And while plenty of conservatives are patriotic, and are good patriots, their side doesn’t get to own the word.

WTOP: Is the word “patriot” a dirty word for people on the left?

ERIC LIU: The idea of a patriot is something that completely ought to be non-partisan, but I think you’re right. There are plenty of folks on the left who are proud to be American, who love their country, and are unabashed about saying so; but there are also some who over the last four decades have developed kind of an arm’s length relationship to the idea of patriotism. What progressives have to do is really learn to speak again an affirmative language of patriotism that really grounds the idea back in original values. If you unpack the idea of patriotism to mean country above self, you end up with a set of moral values and principles like stewardship, contribution before consumption, sharing of sacrifice, mutual obligation: ideas that are inherently progressive. Unpacking patriotism doesn’t lead you to “every man for himself,” or “let the market sort things out,” or other principles that are so much part of movement conservatism.

WTOP: But can we point the finger at people who are more conservative republicans, because all they’re doing, at least the political gladiators among them, all they’re doing is trying to win elections, and if that’s one way to do it, if people on the left aren’t going to pick up the patriotism mantle, it’s an easy win for Republicans, isn’t it?

ERIC LIU: Well, progressives have to learn to get over their arm’s-length relationship with patriotism. Until progressives can unabashedly and affirmatively say, “I love this country, and I love this country not only because it’s my right to protest here and my right to dissent, but I love this country because there is no other country on earth dedicated to an idealistic proposition, dedicated to the idea of equal opportunity and a fair shot. And this country represents and embodies something that is good for the world.” Until progressives can say that with conviction, we’re not going to earn the lasting, durable trust of a majority of Americans, and we will lose elections.

WTOP: How does your book propose that, let’s say, all sides come together around the idea of being a patriot without attacking each other or just not coming to an understanding?

ERIC LIU: You know, one of things, Dmitri, that’s been interesting about the reception we’ve had to The True Patriot is that there have been a lot of Republicans who have been reading this text and telling us, “Thank you!” Thank you for putting the idea of patriotism not in the silly symbolic issues, but in language of moral values and principles, like sharing of sacrifice, ideas and values that don’t belong to either party, and indeed really are at the heart of any profound faith tradition that exists, not only in American life, but in the world. And I think if you take these values seriously, you’re able to find a zone where people of both parties can come together and say, “You know what! This is the essence of true patriotism: whether we are looking out for the next generation, whether we have a sense of obligation and responsibility, not just to ourselves but to those who are going to come after us.” And you can, I think, do a good deal of at least clearing away the silliness of our current politics if you start with that language of principle first. It’s on us to change the tone of the debate and to talk about patriotism, not as a club, not as a weapon, not as some tactical dart that you throw at the other side, but as something that we are all in it together, and what does that mean, and how are we going to find some common ground to move forward on.

WTOP: Well it does seem that it is a logical base to start from, that you’ve got to love this place regardless of any injustices that you see, any changes in policy you’d like to see somewhere down the road: it seems like a defeatist way to look at it, if you distance yourself from the word, or even suggest that you’re against America in some way.

ERIC LIU: The reason why we wrote this book, The True Patriot, is that when we looked at all the things that seem to be fake and wrong and irrelevant about national politics today, we began to realize that so much of what’s wrong with American politics derives from this very powerful, dominant frame that we have that says there is a narrow negative conception of freedom that we should all embrace: freedom from taxation, freedom from regulation, freedom from responsibility to others, freedom from obligations to look out for something bigger than yourself. And that narrow negative conception of freedom is deeply rooted in the American story. And we realize that the only thing that is going to help you uproot and trump that narrow selfish conception of freedom is an appeal to patriotism, and a re-grounding of patriotism in what we’re all going to do together, rather than some justification for naked selfishness.

WTOP: That’s Eric Liu, co-author of the new book, The True Patriot. Eric will to be talking about his book tomorrow evening at six at the New America Foundation that’s on Connecticut Avenue in DC.

Audio of the interview attached below.

The True Patriot

adminn — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:06:00 -0500

It’s been hijacked by the right and abandoned by the left, but the principles of true patriotism -- country above self, responsible stewardship, equality, shared sacrifice and service -- are inherently progressive. The True Patriot challenges progressives to retake patriotism. Written in the pamphleteering style of Thomas Paine, it presents a manifesto, ten-principal plan, and moral code that reframe the concept of patriotism and return politics to what it once was: a civic virtue and responsibility that fueled the country’s founders.

Praise for The True Patriot "The True Patriot makes a powerful argument that our heritage as a great nation is a progressive heritage, and it shows what… more

NYT Quotes Eric Liu on Asian Americans and College Admissions

Communications — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:55:00 -0500

New America in the News:

When Jonathan Hu was going to high school in suburban Southern California, he rarely heard anyone speaking Chinese. But striding through campus on his way to class at the University of California, Berkeley, Mr. Hu hears Mandarin all the time, in plazas, cafeterias, classrooms, study halls, dorms and fast-food outlets. It is part of the soundtrack at this iconic university, along with Cantonese, English, Spanish and, of course, the perpetual jackhammers from the perpetual construction projects spurred by the perpetual fund drives.

Too Many? Not Enough? Some say Asian-Americans are being denied spots at top colleges to keep their numbers in check (Asians make up 5 percent of the population)...

When I ask the chancellor at Berkeley, Robert J. Birgeneau, if there is a perfect demographic recipe on this campus that likes to think of itself as the world’s finest public university — Harvard on the Hill — he demurs. “We are a meritocracy,” he says. And — by law, he adds — the campus is supposed to be that way. If Asians made up, say, 70 percent of the campus, he insists, there would still be no attempt to reduce their numbers...

If Berkeley is now a pure meritocracy, what does that say about the future of great American universities in the post-affirmative action age? Are we headed toward a day when all elite colleges will look something like Berkeley: relatively wealthy whites (about 60 percent of white freshmen’s families make $100,000 or more) and a large Asian plurality and everyone else underrepresented? Is that the inevitable result of color-blind admissions? Eric Liu, author of “The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker” and a domestic policy adviser to former President Bill Clinton, is troubled by the assertion that the high Asian makeup of elite campuses reflects a post-racial age where merit prevails.

“I really challenge this idea of a pure meritocracy,” says Mr. Liu, who runs mentoring programs that grew out of his book “Guiding Lights: How to Mentor and Find Life’s Purpose.” Until all students — from rural outposts to impoverished urban settings — are given equal access to the Advanced Placement classes that have proved to be a ticket to the best colleges, then the idea of pure meritocracy is bunk, he says. “They’re measuring in a fair way the results of an unfair system.”

He also says Asian-Americans are tired of having to live up to — or defend — “that tired old warhorse of the model minority.”

“We shouldn’t be calling these studying habits that help so many kids get into good schools ‘Asian values,’ ” says Mr. Liu, himself a product of Yale College and Harvard Law School. “These are values that used to be called Jewish values or Anglo-Saxon work-ethic values. The bottom line message from the family is the same: work hard, defer gratification, share sacrifice and focus on the big goal...”

For the complete article, please visit The New York Times website.

Guiding Lights

adminn — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Selected reviews of Guiding Lights are featured below:

American Library Association

Saturday, January 15, 2005 This book documents the stories of 15 mentors as well as the very personal journey of a former Clinton speechwriter, journalist, and author (The Accidental Asian, 1998). Two years in the researching and writing, this is a riveting analytical description of how great teachers made a difference and how they work their magic. The 15 stories are as disparate as American lives: Ivana Chubbuck, a Hollywood acting coach, who's instructed Halle Berry and Eriq LaSalle; eurhythmics teacher Bob Abramson, who helps students… more

Waiting for the Story

Articles — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 00:00:00 -0400

What do we mean when we call a president a "great communicator"? Maybe we mean he's a great storyteller. But whether or not he's a stirring orator or charming raconteur, we mean that he's a teller of great stories. In presidential politics, the man is a metaphor. The candidate who can tell a story about himself that's deeply in sync with a story about the country -- and who can make the stories equally compelling -- is most likely to win.

Look at recent elections. In 1992, Bill Clinton branded himself the Comeback Kid, the Man From Hope… more

Remember When Public Spaces Didn't Carry Brand Names?

Articles — Thu, 25 Mar 1999 00:00:00 -0500

In a few weeks, when the world champion New York Yankees open their home season, will they take the field at Trump Stadium? Time Warner Park? Maybe AT&T Arena?

Chances are the park will still be called Yankee Stadium. But it won't be that way for long. Quietly, and with strikingly little protest, the Yankees have announced that they are planning to sell the "naming rights" to their Bronx homestead. By the time the 2000 season arrives, some lucky corporation may well have … more