Still looking for healing

Last week I submitted a letter to the editor regarding Donald Trump and the healing that so many of us want for our nation. In that letter I was very critical of Trump, and while I stand by everything I said, I wish that I had been clearer about a couple of matters. One is that I certainly don’t think Trump is responsible for the deep divisions among us, although I think he has exploited those for his own ends and left us poorer for it. Nor do I disrespect the great number of my fellow citizens who see things very differently than I, and who are supporting him. Indeed there are Trump supporters among my friends and extended family, folks I absolutely love and respect.

This, of course, is exactly as it should be, and the way democracy works. Which brings me to the other thing that I wished I’d said in my earlier letter. A great number of folks in the country have obviously found in Trump a voice for their experience and viewpoint, and an outlet for pent-up frustration. And the political establishment, many in the media, and many of their fellow Americans have been shaken awake and had to admit to being tone deaf and out-of-touch.

Trump supporters and other “outsider” voices in this election season — this is democracy at work. At their best, these movements strengthen the nation and the political process, challenging us to be more inclusive, making us more whole. Insofar as Trump’s campaign has brought the experience and perspective of many Americans to the table again, and insofar as more of us have become engaged in the democratic process, we can be grateful and admit that the Trump campaign has had some positive impact.

Still, it is incumbent on all of us, including Trump supporters, to call out those who are ever ready to take advantage of our discontent and stir the pot/ the vicious cycle of fear, absolutism, division and violence.

The imbalance in my earlier letter is a personal reminder of how easy it is to stop paying attention and begin to rant, and fail to see and take account of one’s neighbors. Looking now for wider and sustained civic engagement; for newly energized, civil, patient and imaginative discourse; for action on behalf of all of our citizens.

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Still looking for healing."