<P> Myrdal, writing before the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, alleged that northern whites were generally ignorant of the situation facing Negro citizens, and noted that "to get publicity is of the highest strategic importance to the Negro people". This proved, given the pivotal role played by the press in the movement, to be strikingly prescient . </P> <P> At the center of Myrdal's work in An American Dilemma was his postulate that political and social interaction in the United States is shaped by an "American Creed". This creed emphasizes the ideals of individualism, civil liberties, and equality of opportunity . Myrdal claims that it is the "American Creed" that keeps the diverse melting pot of the United States together . It is the common belief in this creed that endows all people--whites, negroes, rich, poor, male, female, and immigrants alike--with a common cause and allows for them to co-exist as one nation . </P>

A major point in gunnar myrdal's an american dilemma was that