Unity will take a fight

In 1790, President George Washington stood before the halls of Congress and delivered his first annual message – a tradition we now refer to as the State of the Union address. Washington opened his remarks with sharp optimism, pronouncing that “concord, peace and plenty” in our nation had led us to prosperity.

Every president since Washington has delivered a similar presentation, and while the format has not always been identical – for over a century, it was delivered on paper and not in a live speech – the call for peace and collaboration has always been a unifying theme. This is to be expected coming from the president. As humans, our instincts toward competition and survival are deep-seated – but when channeled correctly and tempered with compassion, these instincts foster innovation and drive the preservation of our democracy. It is the job of the president to help us channel our instincts properly by laying out both a vision and a road map for success.

President Trump offered up similar remarks during last week’s address, calling repeatedly for collaboration between Republicans and Democrats and an end to the bitter divisiveness that plagues us. But these are just words. Only when coupled with action will they foster the aspirations of a divided nation.

If we truly long for unity, we will have to fight for it. And we must begin this fight with a fundamental shift in paradigm. Stereotypes and discrimination have no place in a unified nation – in fact, these evils are a catalyst for hatred and divisiveness. Yet we cannot seem to completely shake free of the archaic notion that entire subsets of our population should be lumped together and stamped with an offensive label in order to craft policy designed to benefit the majority. Most of us have long understood that this is not the case, but remnants of these misplaced beliefs still trickle from the mouths of so-called leaders on a regular basis, and when they do, we march backwards yet again.

Fresh ideas and unique perspectives have every place in a unified nation, but we still suppress them, believing that we must do business as we always have. By definition, unity requires the incorporation of all opinions and vantage points, but we somehow believe that we can achieve this lofty goal by the process of exclusion, rather than inclusion. The decisions in this country are made almost entirely by one demographic. Unity will only be achieved through diverse ideas and representation.

Sacrifice is instrumental in a unified nation. We must compromise our own interests for the benefit of others if we are to reach group consensus. But our leaders often devote their time to the advancement of only certain, special interests in order to protect their own self-interests. We will not advance together without individual sacrifice.

We often talk about the need to set aside our differences and come together as a country, as our prospects are scary if we continue down this path. Lofty words from presidents are a starting point, but if we really want to come together, it will take more than words from our leaders. They’ll need to fight for it – and we will, too.

This story was originally published February 5, 2018 at 6:24 AM with the headline "Unity will take a fight."