Fault Lines

I am seeing a disconcerting trend in the United States of people not listening to each other, disparaging others who don’t share their views, and jealously protecting their own interests. If this trend continues, I would not be surprised if this nation falls apart within my lifetime.

In Oakland, the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, where I was trained to become a newspaper journalist, offers a diversity training program called “Fault Lines” that teaches participants how to talk to their coworkers across divides of race, class, gender, generation, and geography. I believe we are a nation divided by multiple fault lines that include these categories – and politics and sexual orientation.

A recent example of this trend is the string of comments on Twitter after the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announced today the overturning of Proposition 8, a California constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage. While there were many “tweets” of celebration, some disparaged Christians who supported the amendment. Not all Christians in California supported Proposition 8.

Another example I noticed was an entry in the online publication Benicia Patch in which a resident attended a January 25 meeting in Fairfield addressing housing and transportation. Kathy Kerridge wrote that she made a comment and was told by an audience member that if “you don’t agree with me, you can move to Russia.” When Kerridge asked a woman who opposed paying more taxes for transportation how would blind people get to work without public transit, the woman replied that they should walk.

On a national level, the candidates for president claim their biggest goal is to defeat President Barack Obama. However, I have yet to hear how they would address the housing crisis or help boost the economy to create jobs, or how they would deal with the soaring cost of health care. And how would tax cuts for the wealthy help the middle class and the poor? Or do they care?

Before things get out of hand, can we all sit together and discuss our concerns without shouting or name-calling or eye-rolling? My fear is that if we don’t start working together to solve the problems of this country, the United States will rupture along one or more of these “fault lines.”

Writing Diva