Rainbow bridges of connection promise to convey us beyond the culture wars
Contrary to our everyday bouts with pessimism, recent events offer optimism that new opportunities are bridging the divisions between people in our prevailing culture wars.
Of course we are still polarized by slogans like ‘Black Lives Matter,’ versus ‘Blue Lives’ (police lives) and ‘All Lives’ matter. But, beyond such back-and-forth sloganeering, we are also witnessing unprecedented awareness of the real issues involved.
White participation in protest marches, for example, has signaled a broad recognition of race-based inequities and the need to redress them. Also, COVID-19 has highlighted healthcare, education, and income disparities that claim increasing concern and activism.
Restorative Practices for the Common Good
This spectacular bridge in Viet Nam illustrates how underneath our divisions there can lie massive resources for sustained connection if we will rely on them. The phrase, ‘fostering social connection,’ names precisely the remedy for the scourge of disconnection that leaves us vulnerable as citizens to being pitted against one another. How can we cease to act unwittingly, subversively, and perniciously against our own best interests, and instead foster effective solidarity with one another?
To address that question, I along with other U.S. Southerners in 2003 co-founded Southern Truth and Reconciliation—STAR, Inc, a social justice non-profit that models best practices for restoring connections between communities affected by the legacy of racial violence in the South.
Going beyond race matters, other associates and I continue to partner with the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI International) to provide state of the art train-the-trainer resources for ‘prejudice reduction’ and conflict resolution across all the cultural divides operating in society today.
But together with viewers and subscribers here at Our True Selves.com (OTS), we are amassing and showcasing related resources for interpersonal connections (as well as intergroup coalitions) in order to restore our ability to work together for the common good.
Showcasing Social Connections
OTS presupposes that social connection begins with the willingness to (a) speak the truth to one another but (b) without accusation. Two alternatives follow: (1) resist accusations that pit us against one another and cheat us out of the unity that can resolve polarized debates, and 2) offer remedies and amends for our conflicts through skilled conversations, public dialogues, and policy initiatives that lament common crises and provide resources for accomplishing incremental, shared goals.
As global citizens we can garner diverse approaches that implement such resources. Chief among them are the cathartic power of re-telling each other’s stories. Alongside resisting accusation and lamenting each others losses, these approaches can absolutely resolve the ‘cold civil war’ that continues to rob us of social connection as our true heritage in a shared homeland.
