The Danger to American Pluralism
So What Is Pulling Us Apart?
When I was beginning my teaching career in my very early 20s, my background as a debate coach gave me the swagger to step in front of my students and proclaim my dictatorship over them. I was of the opinion that as a teacher — I am right so don’t argue with me!”
It took about a year for me to understand what a fool I was. Anyone who knows anything about debating an issue knows there are always two sides (more than likely multiple viewpoints) to every concern. Ah, the irony of my youth.
I learned the hard way that close-mindedness leads to hurt feelings and that respect cannot be dictated but must be learned by “stepping into another person’s shoes…and walking around in them” as Atticus Finch told his daughter Scout.
Most of the time my students had darn good reasons for why they didn’t do their assignment: divorced parents battling with each other, living in multiple homes or no home at all, having to work so that the family could get along financially, etc. And so, by listening to their story, I saw the bigger picture, and then I modified, compromised, and sympathized with “the way life works.”
Which brings me to the larger family dynamic: the American people. To quote President Joe Biden, “Folks, we are the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! And…
