It is our country’s birthday; a day set aside to celebrate independence from Britain’s rule: an accomplishment that history touts as our country’s freedom from tyranny.
Yet…Independence from British rule in 1776 meant very little to people of color who were enslaved or native Americans who were slaughtered and displaced. Independence in 1776 meant very little to women who remained subjects of their fathers, husbands or brothers. White, male property owners had much to celebrate; while the rest of the country remained disenfranchised.
Then, as now, we were a country of contradictions; a country of great accomplishments, opportunity and hope, and a country of great injustice and despair. We are a country that elected both Barrack Obama and Donald Trump; we are a country that has fostered great wealth for a few, and great poverty for many; We are a country of Civil Rights and Jim Crow. We are a country of great humanity and incredible cruelty.
This is America. We are still very much a country divided–exacerbated by the 24/7 news cycles and social media, giving everyone (myself included) a forum that can be used to share adorable pictures and knowledge or to foster division and hate.
We are often dug into our individual affiliations with great self-righteousness; leaving little room for compromise or civil disagreement. Controversial topics are over-simplified into emotional and extreme positions, versus recognizing nuance and complexity. Too often, we are not interested in learning more or finding common ground, in our haste to dig in to our own positions. This attitude can lead to willful ignorance: disregarding and dismissing science and facts as irrelevant to what we believe to be true.
I recently read Brene Brown’s book: Braving the Wilderness (which I highly recommend). Brene relates a story about a fan who angrily assumed that Brene was against any gun control, since she talked about owning guns. But, that was not true: Brene supports responsible gun ownership AND common sense gun control. A more nuanced position that is sometimes lost, or misunderstood in today’s public discourse.
During a recent conversation at work, a colleague opined that Thomas Jefferson did not intend to disenfranchise blacks or women in the Constitution. I countered that it took a war and a Constitutional Amendment to give blacks the constitutional right to vote, and yet another hard-fought amendment to allow women to vote; all of which would not have been necessary if the Constitution reflected a clear intent to apply to all people, regardless of race or gender. Eventually, we agreed that while we cannot know Thomas Jefferson’s intention, it is indisputable that the original constitution most certainly did not bestow full citizenship on all.
Although we started this conversation with a mild disagreement, we listened to each other, agreed on what was knowable, and what was inference. It was a civil and polite exchange. It can be done – even by me!
With the 2020 election looming, the next 12 months are bound to contentious and divisive. It will be a difficult time that tries our collective humanity and compassion. Let us hope that we meet that challenge in a way that serves to heal rather than to further fracture our national identity.