Don’t let the election rip us apart

By Antonio Garza

The Dallas Morning News

Every four years, we have an election that stretches our country thin along the political spectrum. As the left and right poles tug at our beliefs, the social fabric tightens and tensions rise across the country. But after each November, our political divisions slowly fade and the social fabric waves freely once again. This time, however, I’m worried that we may not get that far; I’m worried that we are watching it rip.

Take a look at the anger foaming over at rallies. The slurs hurled at those whose families come from other countries or speak other languages. The protesters claiming fraud or a rigged system when their candidate doesn’t win. None of this is unique to this year’s election, but it’s taking place publicly on an unprecedented level. We are goading an angry and socially destructive genie out of a bottle, with no clue how to stuff it back in.

Getting to this point wasn’t too hard. Combine fears of rampant immigration, a sense of insecurity after global terrorist attacks, sluggish economic growth, especially for lower skilled workers and fewer high quality jobs to lift workers into a vibrant middle class, and you have a fertile ground for raw frustration. Now add in leaders that channel this anger toward selected demographics, business sectors or countries, and it flows into the public space at an alarming speed.

Wrong view

To some, this collective anger is an unfolding revolution. For others it is the beginning of a scorched earth, down-with-the-establishment policy approach. And for a final group, it is catalyst for catapulting America toward great nation status. For what it’s worth, here’s my humble opinion: They are all wrong.

Let me put it pretty simply. Any idiot with a stick of dynamite can blow something up. But it’s much harder to assemble the team of committed craftsmen and builders, cobble together sufficient resources, and develop a shared vision of what to build.

And right now we aren’t even trying to build, we are only trying to blame. We’ve allowed ourselves to slide into the politics of anger and fear, of group name-calling, where the others – be they immigrants, bankers or supporters of the other candidate – are stupid, crazy or corrupt. We’ve forgotten that these nameless individuals are often our neighbors, doctors, teachers, friends and family members.

Of course, it’s hard to build a shared vision on anything in a country like America, with so many backgrounds, heritages, beliefs and ideologies. Since no group holds the monopoly on what it means to be American, then characteristics like race, religion or culture don’t do much to define us as a people or to lay out a path forward

Instead, to be American is to share a set of beliefs and values, and to tirelessly pursue liberty, freedom and justice. It’s what bound us together hundreds of years ago, and it is what binds us together today. These are our central values and the ones we should be building from, ensuring that our justified anger is channeled toward creating a better future and not dividing our communities.

Antonio Garza is a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He wrote this for the Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.