Douglas Alexander: “a lot is being said about whether Ken Burns included enough Latinos in his new television series on World War II. This…”

“a lot is being said about whether Ken Burns included enough Latinos in his new television series on World War II. This is one more reminder that ``pluribus'' comes easy, but ``unum'' is hard. It would be a lot easier if ``e pluribus unum,'' the national motto displayed above the Presiding Officer's desk in the Chamber, were reversed and became ``many from one'' instead of ``one from many.'' Ken Burns's epic series on ``The War'' began last night on public television. It promises to stick in our collective memory as only a few television events have--for example, the Roots series, Burns' own Civil War series, and Super Bowls. In fact, our country is so splintered these days and so enthralled with our diversity that not very much becomes collective memory, as did, for example, McGuffey's Reader in the 19th century, or the three network newscasts in the mid-20th century. This diminution of our common core of beliefs and experiences is America's fundamental challenge because forging unity from our magnificent diversity is America's greatest achievement and has created our capacity for other achievements.”