Hey, guys. I hear what you’ve been saying about #wethepurple’s Thanksgivingtaking. I want you to know I get where you’re coming from, and wanted to talk about that a little bit.
First of all, I get it. As a wealthy white guy it’s a ton easier for me to take up a controversial position. I hear you on that. And I want you to know that your safety comes first. I don’t want you to endanger yourselves.
But your family is, hopefully, a group of people you love and who love you. Even if you’re on opposite sides of the aisle politically, you share a common humanity & care about each other… and that care is the first step in healing division.
And hopefully, you also care about certain foundational concepts like civic engagement, democracy, and our fundamental liberties. So let’s start there and talk about that, and try to really hear each other.
The only way we’re going to end partisan division and reunite our country is through actively listening to each other and finding places of intersection. We’ve got to find places where our common humanity supersedes politics so we can build bridges, not walls.
That’s what Thanksgivingtaking is about - finding places where we can connect with each other and what we really care about as a country once we strip away our “us vs. them” tribalist mentality.
So, if you SAFELY can today, I encourage you to go talk to your family about fundamental human values that are key to our society. Talk about civic engagement- why it’s important to get involved & critically think.
Talk about what you care about, & what we care about as a nation. Don’t get into “the Dems” or “the GOP”, at least as a start. Topical debates will probably occur, but start by talking about the things that unite us. Try to listen to each other. And thank YOU for listening to me.
