Charlottesville: An urgent need to fight tribalism and heal our fractured civilization
In my life, I’ve seen people killed around the world because of race, religion or tribe — more times than I’d like to remember. I have seen the price that individuals, families and entire nations pay for such schisms. I have seen the resulting loss of humanity. I know the scars and how they impact all members of society.
But I never imagined crowds of people carrying torches and chanting for white supremacy in the 21st century U.S. as they did in Charlottesville, Virginia. A life was taken. Thirty-four people were injured. The world got a glimpse of raw, ugly American tribalism.
We cannot abide by that, cannot standby quietly, for America is a project that stands for precisely the opposite, even if we have not always lived up to its promise, to our promise to one another. We will thrive only if we see the American project as our collective project, and do the work to make it real again.
The stakes are too high. For if there were ever a country with the potential to make manifest the promise that a diverse group of people, a nation of nations, could bring the best of themselves to making real the fundamental ideal that all humans are born equal, it is the United States. We must look at rights and responsibilities as well. We must find our way to reasoned dialogue again. We must learn to listen and to reason and not simply to throw our opinions loudly at one another, shutting off voices we don’t want to hear. All of this requires skills and attributes of moral leadership, something we must teach our children and ourselves again.
But it is possible. May we let this past week be a reminder of the veneer of civilization that keeps our broken parts together, how easily it is to fracture. May it be a moment for all of us to renew our commitment to the ideal of a nation in which all people have a chance to be what they can be. May it be a time for us to reflect on our better selves, refuse to stay silent, do one thing today, even if just the smallest hello to a stranger. Mostly, may we remember that this nation was conceived by the people for the people.
And that right now we have to be the leaders we are waiting for.
