I felt insulated from such petty divisions. Surely, I thought (quite mistakenly) that this sort of thing happened to humans across time and around the planet, but not in America, where rationality ruled and patriotism united us all in one large pot of chili - with plenty of room for meat and beans, tomatoes and onions, garlic and cumin. We all brought a little of our old country to a fresh one where brand new identities were formed and where the sanctity of the self was balanced only by the inviolability of the common good. Somehow, I believed that despite past stumbles and stains on the fabric of America, the field of bold stripes and clear stars would prevail and show the world just how people could unite and protect each other.
But our Grand Experiment has gone terribly, horribly awry. Instead of displaying a golden ideal of how people really could get along, Americans are more divided today than we have ever been. Like fans of sports teams, we seem unable to find the common ground to play peaceably, with victors patting the shoulders of the ones who were defeated. Instead, the partisanship looms larger than respect and the sparks of small differences are inflamed by hateful speech. We have become nothing more than Montagues and Capulets, Hatfields and McCoys, red hats and blue shirts.
Each side will consider theirs the noble side, of course, but there is only one side to humanity - and it begins with "be nice to each other". If people you support or cheer on are using tactics that inspire you to fear your fellow American, if your getting ahead is at the expense of another, if preserving your rights means taking away someone else's, or if the rhetoric explodes in terror suffered by innocents, then this is the time to question your stance.
The human drama plays a long game. Our petty squabbles melt like sugar in rain, our battles smooth into furrows in sand, and our wars appear as momentary blips within the span of millennia. At a time when the divisions between people runs only slightly less fearsome than the damage being done to our planet, there is much work to be done. In recent days, the urgings of fanaticism and fervor have resulted in meaningless death and crippling fear - to Jews who were worshipping, to African-Americans who were going to the store, to lawmakers who were doing nothing more wrong than speaking for the "other half" of our democracy. Somehow, this must end, and sanity must be restored.
In our tiny town, just last night, a candlelight vigil was held in the Village Green. On social media, just today, one writer asked what was the point of walking around with candles, that it wouldn't change a thing. Yet those who had participated used words like: "heartbroken" turning into "inspired" and "darkness" turning into "warmth". These small measures, like rain drops into the vast ocean may not change anything today, but it has the potential to give hope and if it does for even one person, then it is very worth doing. But these flickering candles, these small gatherings, must lead to greater responsibility, must lead to unity not division, and help us find that we are all not so different after all.
