Like a slow boil, an erosion of cohesion is taking place across America. Emotions are strong, opinions are diverse, and discord dominates. Why? What have we become?We are America because of and in spite of our differences. Our strength lies in the fact that we do not have a dominant race but are instead an eclectic melting pot of cultural diversity. Instead of embracing that, however, we have allowed it to divide us.
Recently, I’ve watched as politicians, pundits, news media, and community organizers vie for a dominant position on perhaps one of the most sensitive topics of our time – race in America. Each side carries a self-serving agenda in the hope of acquiring power to assert their will, viewpoint, or motive across the very eclectic people of America using race as the basis of their argument. And not one of us likes it.
As a nation, we have historically existed because of and in spite of the predominant diversity of our demographics. We often clash over ideals and are a passionate people when it comes to the protection of our inalienable rights as Americans. It’s not always pretty, but we find a way. Even yet, we remain one of the strongest forces on the planet among all others, some of whom may never taste the very freedoms and rights we take for granted on a daily basis. Ask anyone who has served or traveled abroad just how real that statement is and they’ll affirm it.
Keep your passions in check.
I’m a white male. I generally lean conservative when it comes to a political point of view. I’m not overly religious but operate from a highly spiritual perspective. Like you, I have opinions, viewpoints, ideals, and passions. I also have a culturally wide diversity of friends and family. Those who know me know that I don’t give one damn about the color of your skin. My opinions are based on the content of one’s character and whether or not he or she is a unifier or a divider. The best I can offer to a person of color is empathy. I have not walked in their shoes, so it is true that I have no idea of the disparages they encounter. But it goes to my point that if we collectively seek truth and healing, the cultural divide will strengthen us instead of continuing to exist as an American vulnerability.
It is said that we can learn a lot about a person in the first seven seconds of meeting them. I believe that to hold true for most of us. But the ugly divide that predominates our country at this time demands a lot more time than seven seconds to come together and move past that which divides us. The key to conquering that divide is in our approach.
Agree to disagree…without decay.
Most people don’t simply want to get their way. They want to be heard and they want their opinion to be respected. It’s really that simple, because when we respect the viewpoint and opinion of others, we gain empathy. When we gain empathy, we gain insight. And when we gain insight, a powerful healing effect takes place that brings us together. Only then can we collectively break away from those things divide us and thus, begin to move toward that which unites us.
An opportunity.
We have an opportunity before us today that will define us as a nation. That opportunity has revealed itself to us on a grand scale by the increased rhetoric that continues to dominate the underlying issue. That issue is that there still exists a deep racial divide in this country that we need to get past. The opportunity lies in how we handle it. It’s not up to politicians and media news outlets to exploit this opportunity because, as we’ve seen all too clearly, their judgment is clouded by their agenda.
It saddens me that those who have led this country (both past and present) seem so willing and ready to brush aside the opportunity to effectively lead us through the steps of healing we so desperately need as a nation. The opportunity to find common ground and come together as a nation is lost in personal, political, or cultural platitudes.
The opportunity that lies before us is one that requires us all to respect the differences we have while keeping an eye on the topic. Let’s not make it any more personal than it already is. OK, easy for me to say–or is it? There have been many times when I’ve mistakenly injected my own bias or “feelings” into a topic when there was no reason to do so. The result: communication breakdown, discord, and resentment. The broad societal similarities can be seen from almost every conceivable perspective on a daily basis.
Leaders need to lead, advocates need to advocate, rights and opinions need to be protected, and healing needs to take place. America needs a voice of confident calm to overtake the “conversation” I keep hearing that we so desperately need. I’m not convinced that voice should come out of Washington because, as I said earlier, they seem to be mired in their own ineptitude and shortsightedness.
I personally believe the rising division in our country is not about race insomuch as it is about the sociopolitical and economic realities we’re facing. As a matter of opinion, I believe that, as a people, we should all strive to move past the blatant ugliness of the 1960’s and 70’s. We are genuinely hurting in this country, as is most of the world. The economy has been battered about by the effects of the pandemic, unemployment is much worse than we’re told, savings are at an all-time low, the nucleus of the family has deteriorated, and we are more concerned about the uninformed opinions of celebrities than we are about those who are on the front lines of social injustice. It’s true we all have differences. But those differences rarely rise to the feverish pitch they have recently. What am I missing?
There is simply not enough room in this forum for me to depart on a diatribe of recommendations to address the issues that divide us. Suffice it to say, however, that we all need to take a step back, focus on the issues while doing our level best to keep our emotions in check for the sake of effectively addressing those issues. Because the moment it gets personal, the conversation is over.
Until next time…
– G –
“Arguing isn’t communication, it’s noise.” ~ Tony Gaskins
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