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People living in urban and rural areas must come together as one nation, undivided. 

Tribal America

Political Tribalism in America

Tribal tendencies in the nation have grown stronger, counteracting the vision our founders had to ensure that this wouldn’t happen. During the country's earliest years, white immigrants identified themselves as belonging to their state rather than the United States. Many were religious dissidents who came to escape restrictive measures in their homelands. They kept themselves separate from those arriving with a different set of beliefs.

Constitutional writers overcame many early divisions by guaranteeing religious freedom. They declared the country would have no national church or give religious tests to people running for office. In this way, the country avoided religious wars like the one in Ireland that tore it apart for centuries. Rather than a country based on ethnic, religious, and tribal loyalties, America developed as one based on laws and the constitution. Citizens joined groups based on political ideology enshrined in our founding document. It took the Civil War, to see racism as an issue the country had to deal with.

  Our long history with slavery undermined our nation’s identity as a united people. It took abolishing it through constitutional amendments and laws establishing birthright citizenship before guarantees of equal protection were put into place to set things right. Civil rights leaders of the 1960s hoped that additional changes to the law would counter the constant pull towards racism, religion, and ethnicity and fortify the notion of an American people.  

Unfortunately, there are things that went on behind the scenes that not only strengthened our two-party system but made it toxic. What we have now is a form of tribalism based on politics that is undermining democracy and the constitution. It is tearing our wonderful country apart. In 1780, John Adams recognized this as a possibility when he wrote, “that the “greatest political evil” to be feared under a democratic constitution was the emergence of “two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other.” George Washington in his farewell address, mentioned the “spirit of party” as democracy’s “worst enemy.” He said, it “agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.”

  Barack Obama’s presidency brought about an escalation of hate groups based in part on the prediction that whites will lose their majority status. Other contributing factors to the growth of a tribal mentality were the decline in social mobility and the escalating class divide between rich and poor. 

  Throughout the country, subgroups believe they are under attack. Minorities face-off with whites, conservatives with liberals, and working-class people with elites. Rather than focus on issues like the right to work, political associations are demanding the right to define who we are as Americans. The media and social networks now in play have made matters worse. People listen to programs aimed at those who think as they do. Newscasters reinforce their beliefs and strike fear in them about those who see the world through a different lens, bringing about the ugliest of instincts. We operate more like a primitive society based on tribal connections.

I have a friend from Somalia who fled home at the age of 13 because of an implied infraction his father caused to a person in another tribe. As in gangs and drug cartels, memories don't die quickly and vengeance is expected. The offended tribe went after his father. When he couldn't be located their hatred turned on his young son who had to escape to stay alive. As citizens of the United States, he and his wife are a conscientious hardworking couple who understand the importance of tolerance and compassion. 

  I include his story to show how easy it is to become vengeful if you identify a group of people as your enemy. The attack on the Capital on January 6th is an example of what can happen when political tribalism takes control and abstract idealism becomes more important than the people residing on our soil. We must fight against separatists instincts that can divide society.

  Freedom of speech, a basic American principle, has always been held sacrosanct by progressives and conservatives. Today, the left sees it as a way of dehumanizing women and minorities. They speak of religious liberty as discrimination, property rights as shields for structural injustice, and to further embed white supremacy. An article in The Atlantic reports that "only 30 percent of Americans born in the 1980s believe that living in a democracy was "essential," compared with 72 percent of Americans born in the 1930s.”

Mainstream conservatives also reject constitutional principles. Less than half of Republicans support freedom of the press if it means criticizing politicians. In 2017, Trump supporters agreed that the president should be able to overturn decisions made by judges if he disagreed with them. They give Trump the right to act as he pleased without being held accountable. Polls conducted in 2016 by the non-partisan group, the Democracy Fund, found that large numbers of Republicans believe European ancestry and Christianity are important to being American.  

  Let’s stop a moment and ask ourselves why, despite our flaws, so many people still want to come here. Most likely it’s because the dream of what America stands for still exists in the minds of immigrants. Throughout the years, we’ve somehow managed to overcome biases and hatred for the unaligned. We’ve been able to forge an identity that allows individuals to belong to subgroups yet remain loyal Americans. We don’t say, “I want to introduce you to my friend, a British American. Your friend is simply an American, united to other citizens through the Constitution of the United States.  

  Yes, race matters, but it mustn’t be elevated and turned into a separate tribe. Millions of people who feel disenfranchised today need to be treated equally in accord with fair principles defining the constitution. Yes, past injustices need to be recognized, but it must be done without wallowing in the flaws of forefathers and claiming they were smokescreens for oppression. They did what they did in their time—some good, some bad. We must move on. Now is not the time to dissolve into hate groups based on gender, sexual preference, racial, religious, or political affiliation. And yes, Jefferson was a slaveholder, but he also did a tremendous amount of good for the nation. By recognizing the past, we can climb on the shoulders of the people who built our country, look further into the future, become more inclusive, and do better.

References:

Gudmundson, S. (2021) Tribal America. FIlmore County Journal. retrieved from 

https://fillmorecountyjournal.com/tribal-america/

Chua,A. & Rubenfeld,J. (2018) The Threat of Tribalism. The Atlantic. retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/the-threat-of-tribalism/568342/

Belcher, C. (2015) Tribal America. Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. YouTube. retrieved from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FniHDOuBUHg

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