The casualties of partisan politics
The problem with our polarized political culture is not that people disagree. It's that truth disappears. Partisans, using words designed to elicit predictable responses, tap into and solidify divisions between groups so that each group stays together, bound by disdain for people who don't agree.
Well-reasoned exchanges of ideas are scarce because they don't suit this strategy. They allow for the possibility that people will find common ground and fraternize with the enemy. The result of this distortion of issues for partisan purposes is that we become accustomed to hearing and repeating things that aren't true, that don't make sense or that don't even agree with what we really believe.
One phrase used by partisan pitchmen is identity politics. The term was invented to describe political thinking and activity that focuses on the concerns of a particular group, often a group whose members share a history of suffering injustices connected to their identity as part of the group. Today, people speak derogatively of identity politics, implying that to advocate for the interests of one group you must negate the rights of others.
Not surprisingly, people use the phrase in reference to opponents, not themselves. This usage is revealing. Rather than acknowledge what we know to be true — that life is a juggling act in which we continually weigh our own interests against the interests of others — we pretend that only others think of themselves. In real world choices between selflessness and selfishness, we each fall somewhere on the spectrum between Mother Theresa and a psychopath. But in politics, we act as though there is no middle. We toss around the words "freedom" and "justice" as though it were a snap to do whatever you please and be fair to others at the same time. In reality, interests collide and injustices abound.
When opponents of the appointment of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court took one sentence from a speech that she had delivered and announced to the world that she is a racist, they tapped into white fears of preferential treatment for minority groups. Exploiting existing resentments, they did nothing to open a helpful discussion of the emotionally charged undercurrents surrounding identity politics.
Sotomayor's comment was taken from a speech in which she addressed the challenge all judges face, aspiring to be impartial, but inevitably affected to some degree by their experiences. Her nomination could prompt a reasonable national conversation about such questions. Congress will certainly try to determine her capacity for fairness.
No issue is more central to our lives than how fairly we act toward one another. One of the stated goals of our Constitution is to establish justice, and all major religions have variations of the golden rule. But making justice a reality can be complicated. When one group has suffered injustice and negative characterization, it is not a simple matter to repair the damage done. Those who have been oppressed may be burdened with anger. People who have been degraded may assert feelings of pride that others find threatening or unappealing. Members of historically favored groups may agree with the principle of equality but balk at the idea of giving anything up to make things right.
Annoyed or uncomfortable, people don't talk about these things. Some white people even believe racial bias is no longer a problem. Its easy to be blind to privileges we enjoy and barriers that don't exist because we're white. Pride in our own accomplishments might be threatened by knowing we've received unfair advantages. We judge others or we ignore them, but we don't broach the awkward conversations that could reveal the real truth. If we had the courage to talk to each other, we might learn that an African-American man, having achieved success and public recognition, can still be stopped by the police while walking along the bike path, his dark skin the only cause for suspicion. We would not assert that equal opportunity already exists if we were aware of how much more effort people have to give if they are perceived as different from the norm. Judging others unfairly is not just a missed opportunity for understanding. Everyday insults create an atmosphere that grants permission to extremists to commit hate crimes.
Our refusal to grapple with bias perpetuates contradictions. We take pride in our nations ethnic diversity, but ask each other to be blind to race and color. We can't seem to move beyond equating difference with inferiority, so we think the only way to avoid discrimination is to deny that differences exist. But pride in ones own heritage does not preclude respect for others.
Establishing the justice envisioned in our Constitution requires us to see beyond our own interests, to recognize unconscious biases, to seek fair balances and at times to relinquish privileges. It requires us to address problems honestly and to listen to views that differ from our own. Rights are not exclusive to any one group. Respect must extend to all.
These principles are not new, but they are unpopular with those who view freedom narrowly, as an individual experience never to be restrained. During periods when this perspective is in vogue, proponents make a virtue of selfishness, value success above cooperation, and condemn efforts aimed at the common good. Questions of justice, a nuisance to the self-absorbed, fall out of favor.
I believe we are emerging from such a time, as people from across the political spectrum ask policy makers to make reasonable, not ideological, choices. Plenty of ill will remains, but can appear foolish in contrast with the spirit of working together for good. Recently, I saw an anti-Obama bumper sticker that read q"Don't drink the Kool-Aid." The unintentional irony of the message was remarkable. Detractors ridicule enthusiasm for the new president as an irrational phenomenon. I believe the opposite as true. What stirs so many is the beautiful sound of the voice of reason.
Gail Bangert is a Harwich resident.
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