I was so proud to serve in DC this week, as the DC City Council brought forward a bill that essentially condemns Arizona's new immigration law--by forbidding the DC police chief to share immigration information with federal officials and asking DC to divest of all business with Arizona. All 13 members of the Council co-sponsored the bill, as they talked about human rights, racial profiling, and the need to take a strong stand. Yes!
It does have me thinking, though, about the ways in which our country feels divided these days. I don't know if it's really more than usual, or if the media's just covering the divide more. But when we have states divesting from business with other states, when we have some jurisdictions legalizing same-sex marriage while others actively prohibit it...it poses, for me, interesting questions about what unites us. The whole concept of a country made up of individual jurisdictions, with some laws universal and others local, is a slightly crazy one. How do we find the thread that defines us as a country, when we seem to be retreating into our little red/blue territories?
I don't have the answer, although my guess is it has something to do with talking to each other more. And perhaps there's a need for people to find the ethical underpinnings that bind us together, even when they lead us in different directions. I'm curious if others think that the country is unusually divided these days, or if it feels as though this is how it's always been. And is that division just part of democracy, messy and volatile and exciting...or is it a rift we need to heal?
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[The following is posted on behalf of Perry B., who did not do so himself because giving his full name here might have caused unnecessary problems for his government-agency employer.]
I don't have enough knowledge of history to compare this period to others in terms of unity or division. (Obviously, things were pretty contentious in the late 1960s and early 1970s also---although the generational aspect of that period probably gave it a different feel.) But I am convinced that we do indeed have a problem in the amount of reflexive contempt surrounding our disagreements.
Here's a little thought experiment for readers of this blog. See if the following statement applies to you: "I can honestly say that I do not have feelings of fear, anger, or disgust toward EITHER Barack Obama or Sarah Palin." It doesn't apply to me, unfortunately, and I know I've got plenty of company in that--a good majority of the country, I suspect. Maybe you as well. "But," you may say, "_____________ IS appalling, so of course I'm scared/angry/disgusted." But then, what to make of all those fellow citizens who support, respect, and even admire that same person you find so outrageous? Clearly, they must all be evil or stupid, right? Accepting that conclusion might be okay, if there weren't so many of them and they weren't drawing the same conclusion about you and all those with views similar to yours.
There are a lot of big issues facing the country and the world---climate change, the federal debt, the education system, international peace and security, global poverty, crime, unemployment, lack of purpose, etc. But I'm worried that we won't get very far with any of them if we don't first take back our politics, our media, and even our minds from the "wing-nuts" of the left and right.
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