The Greatest Challenge to This Generation

I have watched with a combination of deep sadness, frustration, horror and fear in the past few days, the violent events taking place in our country.  Normally I write about topics related to the dangers of rampant partisanship and rigid ideological thinking in our political discussions, and how these attitudes or thinking patterns are barriers to successfully developing real solutions to our key problems.

Today I am writing about the racially-related violence of the past week, because I believe there’s a common link between these events and the state of our politics.  That is, the absence of an ability or willingness for most of us to sincerely care about those people or groups who look and think differently than ourselves.  This absence impacts our ability to successfully address not only political issues but those of race and community relationships with police.  These issues are putting our economic and community security at risk today, and I shudder to imagine what events might take place in our cities, streets and neighborhoods between now and the coming election.

Based on news coverage and social media, we seem to be divided into “camps” even in our outrage …. One camp seems only to be outraged at the deaths of police at the hands of a black man in Dallas, and the other seems only to be outraged at the deaths of black men at the hands of police in Baton Rouge and St. Paul.  There does not appear to be a middle ground, a place where the two points of view can be accommodated … where people can express outrage at ALL these killings, and can both support the daily police sacrifices to protect citizens, and want any police abusive action to be held accountable.  That divisive attitude in viewing issues and problems is what this blog is about addressing, at its core.

So here’s my thinking today.  This inability to handle difficult events, or to solve difficult problems, as the “one nation” we profess to be in our Pledge of Allegiance, is the greatest challenge of this generation.  I believe it threatens the security of our country, our prosperity and our future to a greater degree than global fascism in World War II or communism in the Cold War. According to the historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Teddy Roosevelt once said that “we cannot have democracy where people don’t understand each other’s points of view.”

Is there a solution?  I have not yet heard one from our leaders.  So let me step into the vacuum, and with all due humility, provide a suggestion to consider.

I believe the solution is recommitting to our foundational values at every level in our society, up to and especially including our political leaders.  It starts with acknowledging the truth that each of us benefits more greatly by coming together as a united nation, society and community than we do by dividing into separate camps, groups, parties, regions or states.  Each of us in our own mind and heart needs to put “respect for others” near the top of our list of personal values that guides our thinking, decisions, behaviors and actions.  We have to do more listening to others who think differently than we do, with a sincere desire to understand the points of view of others in very different situations than ours.  We need to respect and value those different points of view, needs and concerns. 

And here’s the action step … we need to work to accommodate those needs and concerns with our own in a “Win-Win” solution that largely addresses the major needs and concerns of both ourselves and others.   Practically, this means that political leaders from both major parties need to seek not a Democrat or a Republican solution, but a solution that addresses the needs and concerns of both parties. For a practical demonstration of how well that can work, please read the blog post on Gay Marriage that I posted on June 23, 2015, at the bottom of this page.

For our racial issues today, we need to build trust through demonstrating that there is true caring for the safety of both the police and the safety of ALL citizens, for both respecting police and not tolerating bad policing.  Our police leaders, including the police union leaders, really play a key role here, by taking the lead in expressing understanding of the pain and distrust that excessive use of force by police causes in the Black community.  They need to be explicit in words and actions that there is no tolerance for those behaviors by their officers, and those who exhibit them will be weeded out of the department, either by legal or administrative actions.

We need to be able to bring together, community by community, and on a national level, the groups concerned with supporting police and the groups concerned with the loss of life and the level of police action that can be perceived as harassment in the Black community.  Community leaders need to bring groups together to address the causes and develop solutions that accommodate the needs, concerns and fears of both sides.  We have to stop just reporting events and statistics and begin to come together to develop real solutions … not to dictate solutions but jointly develop solutions on the “Win-Win” basis, reflecting honest respect and concern for both sides.

I pray that this generation is ready to be the next “greatest generation” that comes together in service and some sacrifice to promote a “more perfect union” for all Americans.  If you are, please pick up a pen and/or your cell phone and reach out to your community leaders to volunteer to be part of the solution. It’s time to enlist in the cause of bringing the country together.