Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

About Purple America

Why does America need Purple America? The time is now to champion America’s values. Ten years ago, our nation was staggered by an attack that even today stirs our emotions. As devastating as that period was, 9/11 brought us together for a time in an unshakeable sense of unity. That unity has been disrupted to an alarming degree.

While there is speculation that incivility and political divisiveness contributed to the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, there is no doubt they have played out on the national stage in other high profile events, culminating recently in the debt ceiling debate and resulting in Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. debt. 

A “Civility in America” study conducted by KRC Research in late May 2011 using an online survey of 1,000 U.S. adults revealed that Americans are increasingly concerned about incivility, believing they are directly affected by it in politics, education, the workplace, the Internet and the marketplace. About two-thirds of Americans (65%) believe we have a major civility problem.  A report on the survey can be found at  http://www.webershandwick.com/resources/ws/flash/CivilityinAmerica2011.PDF

Under the heading, “Remedies for Restoring Civility,” the report concludes, “Perhaps a national public education program starting in the schools, cities and public squares across America could turn the tide on incivility and help restore respect and pride as a country.” That program is Purple America’s Re-Imagine America® campaign.

Why are America’s values important to national unity and civility?  A communal or cultural value system is held by and applied to a community, a group or a society. It influences individual and group behavior and even the laws of the land. Purple America became a national initiative of Project Love® Remember the Children Foundation, when, through it’s anti-bullying  efforts in America’s schools, the non-profit group recognized a deep need for values education and role-modeling in our schools, workplaces and living rooms across the nation.

Project Love is a Cleveland-based character-building program that has trained more than 50,000 American teens and 2,000 educators to build a culture of kindness, caring and respect in their schools. Founder Stuart Muszynski says his hands-on work has taught him that to achieve collective goals, individuals and groups need to engage each other civilly and with an appreciation of the shared values that form their common ground. Doing so has the power to transform cultures to foster cooperation and progress.

Muszynski, his wife Susan, a clinical psychologist, and their children travelled across the country conducting almost 1,000 videotaped, face-to-face interviews with people they encountered. Muszynski says that despite geographic, racial, political, economic and other differences, when asked about their values, Americans everywhere said similar things.  The 12 values that were repeated most often are:: Equality, Faith, Family, Freedom, Love and Respect, Self-Expression, Doing the Right Thing, Community, Giving Back, the Good Life, Opportunity and Success.

These values are our common ground.

“We are more alike than we are different,” Muszynski says. “America’s values are neither red nor blue. They are secular and non-partisan. They belong to all of us.”  Purple America’s mission is to prompt Americans to re-connect with our shared values and shift the national dialog from the issues that divide us to the values that connect us.

How is Purple America funded? Purple America is funded by the non-profit 501C3 organization Project Love, a partnership with the National Education Association (NEA), and support from individual and corporate donations.  Donations can be made online at www.purpleamerica.us.

About Purple America®

Purple America is a national initiative of Project Love® Remember the Children Foundation, a character-building program that has trained more than 50,000 American teens and 2,000 educators to build a culture of kindness, caring and respect in their schools. Purple America’s mission is to unite America around twelve values, neither red nor blue, that form our common ground: Equality, Faith, Family, Freedom, Love and Respect, Self-Expression, Doing the Right Thing, Community, Giving Back, the Good Life, Opportunity and Success.

Project Love is a non-profit, 501c3 organization.

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CONTACT:

Paula DePasquale
Landau Public Relations
216.912.2857
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