Under the baobab: Seeking common ground in a divided America

Do we as a people still share the same basic beliefs? Did we ever?

As Americans we sometimes zealously disagree, but at the core believe in the same foundational ideas — democracy is better than tyranny, truth is better than lies, love is better than hate, charity is better than selfishness. Today we are questioning whether those basic beliefs remain.

From the beginning, the United States of America has been the world’s most diverse country though not always the most democratic. In the beginning, political and economic control was under the authority of landowning white men, but they governed a community where most people were women, indigenous people, Africans and representatives from dozens of other nations and world cultures. As the country grew, that diverse group slowly learned to share and articulate those core beliefs and values.

Most of us mistakenly assume that the original question of the nascent nation — whether to remain as several disjointed settlements of England or sever those colonial bonds to create a new country based on principles of democracy — was unanimously agreed upon. It wasn’t. Most early Americans were undecided. Many were in favor of keeping the status quo with Britain. After the war most of those dissenters immigrated to Canada, England, or other colonies.

The second major question that generated major disagreement was slavery and its evil progeny, white supremacy. It took the deadliest conflict in U.S. history, the Civil War, to resolve the slavery question. We are still living with elements of white supremacy.

Another divisive issue, the first pandemic, the Spanish Flu, surfaced 100 years ago. It ravaged the country killing almost as many Americans as COVID-19. There were disagreements over its cause and cure. There were violent clashes over masks, quarantines, and social distancing. Our ancestors never agreed about its cause or developed a vaccination. The pandemic ended because people either developed a natural immunity or died.

Many think that all Americans agreed to enter World War II to defeat fascism and the Nazis. Not true. Until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor many prominent Americans were supporters of the European fascists as a way to combat communism both at home and abroad.

We have witnessed a divided America. Citizens disagreed about the Vietnam War. Some defended the government’s actions, while others saw it as an imperialist aggression and a waste of our country’s resources. Two million Vietnamese and over 50,000 U.S. troops died trying to resolve the issue.

Other issues like abortion, gun rights, global warming and Black Lives Matter further divide us. We do not, and seemingly can not, agree on the core beliefs which can efficiently direct us. It is OK to argue, but when the whistle blows, the game is over. When we cannot agree on the meaning of the outcome then it’s difficult to preserve the cohesion required to maintain ourselves as a nation. What are some of those basic beliefs?

Global warming is real. If we admit it; we can fix it.

Joe Biden is the elected President of the United States. He was elected by a legitimate democratic process.

Black Lives Matter. It doesn’t mean other lives don’t. Just that Black lives do.

The pandemic is real. It is caused by a virus that has already killed more Americans than World War I, II, Vietnam and Korea combined. It is the worst disaster in American history. Vaccines can help eradicate it. Masks help control it.

These are some ideas, it is a start. Some people regret that we are not still living in the “good old days” while others are happy that we have come along way. Both are true. Some of us believe we still have a ways to go. Brothers and sisters, let’s begin. We can do this.