Here is a recent letter from John Wood. How does unity differ from uniformity? Are our leaders helping to unify us around common values? Or are they unifying the base, at the expense of shared values? Do we set the stage for unity in America by calling upon some Americans to unite against others?
Unity is a desirable ideal. But it is possible to be troubled by it as well.
I would not work for Braver Angels if I did not believe that the need for the American people to come together in a spirit of unity were not the best and only way to avert the unravelling of our civil society. But unity can sound like uniformity. And who among us wants to unite with views that we believe are damaging to society?
We don’t. Unity should be understood as a common commitment to honesty, integrity and goodwill between the American people. We should be united in our recognition of one another’s human dignity, and the moral obligation we have to bring out the best in each other as fellow Americans. This can be a fine line to walk. But it is the narrow path that we imperfectly pursue here at Braver Angels. It is only in recognizing each other’s human dignity that calls for unity can be treated as sincere.
Just a few days ago the White House held a summit aimed at uniting the American people against hate fueled violence. Featured among speakers were survivors of anti-Semitic violence, anti-Islamic violence, racist hate crimes and mass shootings motivated by bigotry. Far from hanging on to bitterness or hatred for their attackers these survivors told stories of praying for their assailants, meeting and changing the hearts of people who had wounded them, and transcending hatred with a grace and courage that can only be described as awe inspiring to anyone who appreciates how hard it is to embrace compassion in the face of cruelty.
Their examples should serve as a guiding light for all of us as we tend to the wounds of our politics. And the White House deserves praise for bringing these voices to the American people.
This summit was meant to sound a greater call for unity across the political spectrum. Indeed, Democrats and Republicans are overwhelmingly in agreement in denouncing hate and violence. Yet it is hard for many Americans to hear these calls for unity outside of the context of President Biden’s own insistence on naming a group of Republicans—“MAGA Republicans”—as unique threats to the American experiment and people who patriotic Americans must reject.
Many Republicans who do not believe the election was stolen voted for Donald Trump. An overwhelming majority of Republicans who condemn the violence of January 6th believe that we have to Make America Great Again. Yet even if one happens to believe that the election was stolen through fraud, for those of us who disagree with that point of view it is incumbent upon those of us to distinguish between the views with disagree with and the human-beings with whom we disagree. That is, if we are also committed to unity.
Prominent conservative critics meanwhile have, with nearly one voice, condemned President Biden for condemning all Republicans in his comments excoriating MAGA Republicans. Is this a sincere critique?
Certainly it is politically advantageous for political leaders within the GOP to unite their own voters in feeling attacked by the president. It is also in the political interests of President Biden to isolate a faction of the Republican party while bringing together Democrats and those independents and Republicans who share his opposition to the post election efforts of Donald Trump. President Biden’s words do seem to make clear that this is what he is trying to do, and that he is not therefore condemning all Republicans. It does not seem to me that we bring the American people together by pretending that he is.
Even still, we must ask all parties: do we set the stage for unity in America by calling upon some Americans to unite against others?
What cannot be lost in considering these questions are the real stakes of our politics.
President Biden sincerely believes, as do millions upon millions of Americans, that the politics of those who would support the post-election claims and actions of President Trump are truly an existential threat to our republic. This feeling, of course, is mutual for millions on the other side of this question. All of us therefore have an obligation to speak the truth to each other, to be clear about what we believe and why. Our country’s future is too important for us not too.
But we can do this while remembering that each of us believes what we believe on account of a set of experiences that are human and that none of us are immune to the errors that come through human failings. A higher vision of American society requires us to speak truth to each other while also laying the groundwork for us to be reconciled to one another through understanding.
What other options do we have but violence and the breakdown of our society if we choose to do otherwise?
-John Wood Jr., National Ambassador
