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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2016)
August 3, 2016 Page 7 O PINION It Doesn’t Have to Be ‘Us’ vs. ‘Them’ Building unity with shared values by i saiah J. P oole It’s increasingly easy to believe that our country is irrec- oncilably divided. But that’s not quite the America that Michael Morrill saw from his perch in Reading, Penn. the weekend before the Republi- can convention in Cleveland. Morrill, the executive director of Keystone Progress, was coor- dinating several “doorstep con- ventions” in Pennsylvania that weekend — not big gatherings in expensive halls, but one-on- one conversations at the homes of likely voters about the issues that concern them. Many of these conversations were with the kind of white working-class voters that Re- publican presidential candidate Donald Trump is relying on to carry him into the White House in November. But Morrill was surprised by what he heard. “We had planned to find a lot of Trump voters,” he said, even in the mostly Democratic enclaves of Reading, Erie, and Lancaster that are home to many of the kinds of voters Trump is targeting. “To our surprise, we found no one who was a regis- tered Democrat who was voting for Donald Trump.” That flies in the face of some conventional wisdom that white working-class voters in particular, dev- astated by the 2008 finan- cial crash under President George W. Bush and left behind by the anemic re- covery under President Obama, are united behind Trump’s will- ingness to blame their plight on immigrants and other marginal- ized groups. Instead, organizers found, people were receptive to the idea that it was decades of corpo- rate-friendly economic policies in Washington — not neighbors who don’t look like them — that had made it harder to make a liv- ing. In the New Jersey communi- ties of Hackensack and Teaneck, canvassers and the residents they visited traded stories about their struggles supporting their house- holds. As one canvasser put it, they shared the same conclusion: “It shouldn’t be this hard.” That opened the door to conversations about the family-friendly poli- cies they should be fighting for together. Almost 1,800 such door-to- door sessions took place in 15 states around the country, orga- nized by People’s Action, Center for Community Change Action, MoveOn.org, and more than a dozen local organizations. LeeAnn Hall, co-director of People’s Action, explained the initiative as an effort to get “neighbors having conversa- tions with neighbors” about “a real economic agenda that takes power from corporations and wealthy elites and puts it back in the hands of the people.” “We can’t solve the serious problems facing our country with more division and more hate,” she said. In Maryland, the door knock- ers talked to voters about par- ticular county and state issues, such as a Howard County voter initiative for publicly funded small-donor elections that sup- porters tout as a model for state- wide reform, said Larry Staf- ford, the director of Progressive Maryland. In white working-class sub- urbs of Detroit, many of the doorstep conversations centered around race. Here, as in Pennsyl- vania, canvassers were surprised by what they discovered. “We didn’t expect those con- versations to be easy,” said Ba- tosz Kumor, a Polish immigrant who works with a group called Michigan United. But he said he believed the conversations were necessary because “one of the major impediments to deep transformation in the American economy and politically is that we’ve been running away from conversations about race.” Even though he encountered views about race that were at odds with his own view of how structural racism permeates American society, he said he was surprised by how constructive some of his encounters were. Doorstep convention orga- nizers are now comparing notes from the people they met and planning more door-knocking campaigns. But one lesson is already clear: The antidote to the over- heated politics of us-against- them — especially when “us” and “them” are both prey to exploitation and deprivation by corporate predators — is get- ting people to talk to each other about a progressive agenda that unites and lifts up people based on the struggles and hopes they share. Isaiah J. Poole is the online communications director at Campaign for America’s Future. Your Carpet Best Cleaning Choice Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG. $45.00 A small distance/travel charge may be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: 1 small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services) : $25.00 Area/Oriental Rugs: $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) : $40.00 Minimum Heavily Soiled Area: Additional $10.00 each area Converting from Hate to Peace and Justice Some measures to slow down a runaway train t oM h. h astings With our dai- ly news running to atrocity after trag- edy, Americans are frightened and angry. Some are resonating with hate talk radio hosts like Rush Lim- baugh or quintessentially enraged TV bloviators like Bill O’Reilly. This gets them pushed toward candidates who use the same or similar self-righteous militarized rhetoric. It paints Americans as victims, the system as rigged against us, and the world full of ungrateful evil misfits who un- justly hate and attack us. This strand of candidate sees its exemplar in Donald Trump, of course, but the angry white man rhetoric runs like a bright red thread throughout the entire by rightwing side of the American political landscape. The risi- ble reaction from Paul Ryan to overt racism, when he builds at least a good portion of his career and base on covert, dog-whistle structural racism, should tell us something. But can we imagine a solution that does not in- volve even more hyper-mil- itarization than we already see, with the US attacking in at least eight countries around the world, against whomever it likes, at will? Can we foresee a day when our pay- checks are not shredded by Pen- tagon expenses that gobble up half our tax dollars every year? In my field of conflict trans- formation we can envision a con- version to that world, that struc- ture, that social civilization that spends its resources on life-af- firming goods and services, that has a robust safety net for all, and that draws no hatred from those who live in other places of the world. That vision is only a fantasy unless we offer realistic steps to achieve it, of course, so that is what we study, research, and teach. Frankly, we are barreling down the tracks on a runaway militarized train of hatred and fear right now, so our first baby steps are needed to slow, stop, and ultimately change course onto a much better track, the track of peace and justice. To begin, we might do best by taking these measures: -Increasing funding and em- phasis on research to determine both anecdotally and empirical- ly the salient characteristics of a society that has strong indictors of social justice, civil discourse, peaceful relations with others, prosperity for most, and citizen satisfaction. -Begin pilot projects that ex- periment with incorporating the findings of such research into portions of our American cul- ture. -Begin decreasing our heavy dependence on global military dominance and start shifting to projects that feature collabora- tion rather than fierce and force- ful competition. None of these changes are major and all could inform us about the possibilities. The good news is that research already ex- ists that can help us take these steps with confidence and suc- cess. Then, as we see the relative benefits and low comparative costs, we can make additional informed decisions. Right now, sadly, we are rac- ing to the bottom. Before we hit it, and please understand that the bottom is the use of nucle- ar weapons by a US President acting while full of irrational blind hatred, can we access our big human brains that know how to imagine, to dream, to create workable new paths to peace and prosperity? It is truly up to us. Tom H. Hastings is found- ing director of PeaceVoice and assistant professor of conflict resolution at Portland State Uni- versity. (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $109 - $139 Chair or Recliner: $25 - $49 Throw Pillows (With Other Services) : $5.00 ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949
