The evil twin of MULTICULTURALISM known as IDENTITY POLITICS has taken over. Division and discord rule our discourse.

MLK DAY: A Toolbox for Dialogue

“And we must know on some positions, cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’” MLK

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 20, 2020, marks the 25th anniversary of the day of service that celebrates the Civil Rights leader’s life and legacy.

“And we must know on some positions, cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’” MLK

MLK day is also a national Martin Luther King Day of Service seeking to challenge Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action volunteer service in honor of King. I seek to add my voice to this celebration and day of service.

What I have discovered upon my return to the world (after 6+ years in San Quentin), we no longer have a community of citizens. The evil twin of MULTICULTURALISM known as IDENTITY POLITICS has taken over. Division and discord rule our discourse.

I have always been a man of service from church to community. In San Quentin, I was the Managing Editor or the San Quentin News — publishing 30,000 newspapers a month. Today, my service consisted of joining and participating in a Better Angels event and reading Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell.

On Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 I participated in a Better Angels event in San Francisco. Better Angels is a nationwide bipartisan citizens’ movement started in 2016 dedicated to bringing red and blue Americans together in a working alliance to depolarize America. To understand the key ability to depolarize a debate, join Better Angels it will make our nation a better place. If you’d like to ‘test drive’ a workshop, watch Better Angels Red-Blue Workshop with Van Jones on CNN.

For me, the process on Saturday was a FISHBOWL (The 20 or so people, set up in an inner circle of liberals — “blues,” in Better Angels jargon — and the outer circle of conservatives — reds). We were presented with a topic and each group had a chance to talk among their peers (what they think) while also to listen to the other view. Upon completion of this round, each side was then permitted to ask questions of the others.

THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL INDOCTRINATION PROCESS.

The goal is simply to create a space and method for people who disagree to talk politics, conversations that have become surprisingly rare. A 2017 study by political scientists at the University of California at Davis found that three in four Americans almost exclusively talk politics with people with whom they agree. More and more, Americans avoid discussing politics with people they know hold opposite views — if they mix with them at all. The Atlantic, December 2018

The two most valuable realizations made in our group (i) President Trump has exposed ethical holes in our political system (how the Ukraine scandal showed Trump’s abuse of power and the Biden family’s unjust enrichment); (ii) The exclusion of voice for the minority of a minority group (in our group both including a red jew and red immigrant).

Not everyone can participate in a Better Angels event, then I suggest you read Gladwell’s, Talking to Strangers, released in September 2019. It examines interactions with strangers, with the most interesting mix of examples that include the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia case at Penn State, and the heartbreaking death of Sandra Bland. It challenges the assumptions we are programmed to make when encountering strangers and the potentially dangerous consequences of misreading people we don’t know. Now, this mob of the unknown includes those with differing political views, a must-read for the new decade.

We have few mechanisms/rituals/tools in our secular society to control such judgments. Malcolm Gladwell provides a virtual tool belt full of mental mechanisms to understand our judgments and how to work them into our worldview.

My realization upon participating in the Better Angels event and reading Talking to Strangers is that we sit in judgment in our modern secular world. As we have decoupled from religious institutions/teaching as the moderator of judgment, we now are unhinged. What used to be the harsh righteous indignation of the pious is now manifested in progressive wokeness.

“And we must know on some positions, cowardice asks the question, ‘is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’” MLK

How much participation would create a tipping point (like the Civil Rights Movement)?

It won’t take too many, to hear the Angels tell it. Blankenhorn says that 1 percent of the population of any given community, if sufficiently motivated, can influence that community in decisive ways. He points to groups such as the National Rifle Association and the Sierra Club, with membership rolls in the low seven figures. The difference is that Better Angels has no policy agenda to push. “Relationship-building is at the core of who we are,” John Wood Jr., BA’s director of media development, says. “We’re not trying to get people to agree ideologically — except in the sense that we should be able to agree that there are core values that unite us as a people, that run deeper than ideology. The Atlantic December 2019

According to Better Angels Platform,

How much grassroots success is necessary for us to influence the nation as a whole? Probably the best answer is one percent. Research shows that one percent of the people in a community, if organized and motivated, can significantly influence that community. We estimate that, for Better Angels, the one percent tipping point is about 1.5 to 2 million involved and committed Americans. That’s our long-term goal. To reach it, we will set intermediate goals along the way, and in the next 12 months, we will strive to develop new and online offerings to make the Better Angels experience available not just to thousands, but to millions of Americans each year. Better Angels 2019 Platform

Martin Luther King Day of Service was co-authored by Atlanta Congressman John Lewis and Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford. The federal legislation challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action volunteer service in honor of King.

Find out about Better Angels of the Bay Area events here.

If you like this article and want to read more such articles without any restrictions, why not consider becoming a Medium member (if you are not one already) by using my referral link below?

I get a portion from your monthly fee at no extra cost to you and it will go a long way in supporting me as a writer.