The 2016 presidential election is now behind us. Once again the nation is deeply divided.
As I reflect on the post-election period four years ago, I recall my daughter (who lives in New Jersey) telling me about a Thanksgiving dinner that she and my granddaughter attended with the family of a dear friend. The topic of discussion around the dinner table surrounded by family and friends was the 2012 presidential election. One dinner guest inquired whether anyone had seen the petition to secede from the United States. Another guest acknowledged seeing it, and both proudly admitted to signing it.
My daughter and granddaughter were the only blacks at the dinner gathering. My daughter later shared with me how deeply offended she felt by the talk of secession.
From time to time, the topic of secession is raised by various groups that are not pleased with the outcome of elections. However, because of the disturbing racial undertones surrounding the 2012 re-election of President Barack Obama, the country’s first black president, the talk of secession for many blacks triggered the painful past when our country was ripped apart by civil war and the abolition of slavery. Fortunately, within a few months after the election, talk of secession waned.
Fast forward to 2016. The inflammatory rhetoric is amped up even further, with threats of aggressive poll monitoring in minority voting districts, the stated goal of which has been to root out fraud, but which people of color view as an attempt to intimidate voters and suppress the vote. There are charges of election rigging, which serve to undermine our democracy, and calls by some for open rebellion to protest the outcome of the election. There are others who vow to leave the country if their candidate is not chosen. Some citizens are referred to as “deplorables,” further alienating a group of people who feels that the American Dream is increasingly beyond their reach.
By targeting specific constituencies, the campaigns divide the country racially, ethnically and socioeconomically, and by gender, religion and age. The result is a deeply divided America.
As Americans, we can agree that our country faces enormous challenges. We do not all agree on how to address them. However, in order to begin this work, we must heal and bring back civility and respect in spite of our ideological differences.
America is great. Our power, prosperity and ingenuity have been fueled by our diverse population. In America, the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts.
We recently saw the best of what this country has to offer during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Where most countries had teams of athletes with the same racial or ethnic heritage, the United States fielded athletes of all races whose common purpose was to come together and compete for the U.S.A.
While we look to our leaders to bridge the divide, true transformation must begin with us as individuals. We can look no further than our youth for the answers. At World Youth Day this past July, Pope Francis told the youth, “Today we adults – we adults need you to teach us, like you are doing now, how to live with diversity, in dialogue, to experience multiculturalism not as a threat but an opportunity. Have the courage to teach us that it is easier to build bridges than walls. We need this.”
As I reflect back on that Thanksgiving dinner my daughter attended four years ago, I think the truth is that although much more progress is needed, we have come quite far over the past 150 years. Despite the comments from some that made for an uncomfortable evening, the fact remains that the descendants of Hannah Etheridge Carter, a slave from Bertie County, N.C., sat at the same table and broke bread with the descendants of Irish, Italian, German and Polish immigrants. This would have been virtually impossible 150 years ago.
At every Mass, we are invited to the table of the Lord after we offer the sign of peace to our brothers and sisters. Through the power of the Holy Eucharist, our prayers and by the grace of our loving God, let us put our faith into action and rise above the bitterness and division. Let peace and healing begin with us.
Corlis Sellers-Drummond is a member of Holy Family Church in Clemmons. She is the former liaison to the bishop for the Black Catholic Ministry Commission and former Racial Justice Commission coordinator for the Diocese of Camden, N.J.