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 uniter 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 differences 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 if 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 that which divides us and 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 just how we
handle it. It’s not up to politicians 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 has been many a time 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 societal similarities
can be seen 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
economical realities we’re under. As a matter of opinion, I believe that, as a
people, we continue to move past the blatant ugliness of the 1960’s. We are
genuinely hurting in this country, as is most of the world. The economy is
on the verge of collapse or a significant correction at best (believe it), 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 celebrity than our
true heroes and warriors of freedom. It’s true that we 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 suggestions 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 addressing those issues. Because the moment it gets personal, the conversation is over.
Let me know what YOU think. Something tells me you will...
Until next time!
- G -
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