Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Want to Bridge Divides? You’re Not Alone—Most Americans Do Too

Want to Bridge Divides? You’re Not Alone—Most Americans Do Too

Paper cut outs of people and the earth.

Getty Images, Liliia Bila

Americans are exhausted —by our divisions, our politics, and a media landscape that thrives on tearing us apart. When asked to envision our ideal future, Americans say they want to connect and be united. But how do we get there?

Perhaps, I'm simply invoking my Midwestern roots here, but I believe most Americans not only want to know their neighbors but to be good neighbors.


I was born and raised in Gary, Indiana, a city of stark contrasts at the crossroads of America. From the house where I grew up, roads in one direction led to endless cornfields and predominantly white farming communities, and roads in the other direction led to abandoned steel mills and predominantly Black neighborhoods.

By virtue of where I was raised, I grew accustomed to meeting people from many walks of life. But today, we have fewer opportunities to engage with others whose races, religions, classes, and politics differ from our own. In part, this is because so much of our daily lives takes place in a virtual world—we bank online, order groceries from our phones, and spend less time in public spaces. And, if we’re honest, we might see ways in which we separate ourselves from others who are different from us—by choosing to live in communities that are largely segregated across economic, political, and racial grounds, and by retreating into digital echo chambers that reinforce our existing beliefs. Meaningful interactions across lines of difference have become less common, and this may lead us to feel lonelier than ever and less welcome when we’re around people with backgrounds that differ from our own.

As a social scientist who has studied Americans’ desire to connect for decades, I can’t help but find myself wondering: Is this really how we want to live?

At the end of the day, all human beings share some basic psychological needs. Key among them is psychological safety —to live and thrive in places where we feel at home and like we belong, where we feel like we can trust others in our local communities, like our experiences are represented, and our voices heard.

New findings from More in Common echo this basic human desire, showing that most Americans want to engage with others across racial, religious, political, and socioeconomic lines. But despite this interest in connection, many don’t feel they have sufficient opportunities to do so, or they fear rejection if they try.

In order to close this connection gap, we need to stop thinking about bridging our divides as a political issue and start thinking about it as a human one.

This isn’t about advancing a partisan agenda—it’s about equipping everyday Americans with the confidence and capacity to live, work, and thrive together in diverse communities. Despite our worst fears, our interactions with people across lines of difference are often more positive than we anticipate. The more we engage with people who see things differently from us, the more we wish to do so again in the future, creating “ cascades ” of connection over time. Additionally, the more we see others in our communities valuing connection across differences, the more we become interested in doing so as well.

It’s time to reinvest in our social infrastructure. We can no longer afford to retreat into our segregated spaces because that’s where fear and mistrust of difference grow. As Yascha Mounk explains in “ The Great Experiment ”, diverse democracies have long struggled to contend with difference effectively—but they can only endure by investing in the social infrastructure that makes connections across differences possible.

We invest in the physical infrastructure of our communities without hesitation. When roads and bridges crumble, we rebuild them. After harsh winters, we fill potholes. There’s no debate—it’s just what needs to be done.

It’s time we apply that same mindset to our social infrastructure. Just as we repair the roads that connect our neighborhoods and communities, we need to invest in civic spaces, public institutions, and local initiatives that help people connect across differences. This means funding public libraries and parks, organizing community events, supporting local journalism, and intentionally creating spaces where neighbors can engage with one another—and not only with those who look and think like them.

Our country may feel more divided than ever before, but as Americans, we are more aligned in our core values than we commonly think. Ultimately, bridging divides isn’t about ignoring our differences or forcing consensus. It’s about building trust in the idea that our communities can be stronger when we actively engage with one another and find ways to live together rather than withdraw. It may not always be easy—but like working out at the gym or learning a new language, we can become more skilled in connecting across differences with greater practice. And given the alternatives that lay before us, it seems well worth the effort.

Linda Tropp  is a Professor of Social Psychology and Faculty Associate in Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a contributor to a new report from More In Common, “The Connection Opportunity: Insights for Bringing Americans Together Across Difference.”

Read More

Temples and Test-Tubes

Silhouette of man stand on top of mountain and see in the night sky. Galaxy and space. Meditation and astrology. Esoterica and psychology.

Getty Images/Elements of this image furnished by NASA

Temples and Test-Tubes

Since I was old enough to speak, I have been questioning everything around me. The turquoise color of the ocean, what would happen if I slept on a cloud, the enticing smell of Mom’s “signature” box mac and cheese. Thankfully, these questions eventually evolved into more meaningful ones.

I grew up and continue to be a member of the Baháʼí Faith; therefore, the principles of unity, justice, and service guide the way I live my life. The Baháʼí Faith is a religion that strives to achieve a worldwide unification of all races, religions, and cultures. Founded in the 19th century, the religion teaches the oneness of God, the elimination of prejudice, harmony among religions, and the common origin of all past prophets of God.

Keep ReadingShow less

Angelica Salas’s Journey From Undocumented Immigrant to Community Leader at CHIRLA

Angelica Salas has long been a leading advocate for immigrant rights in Los Angeles. Since becoming Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) in 1999, she has transformed the organization into one of the most powerful immigrant-led advocacy groups in the country. Her leadership has redefined what grassroots organizing can look like, mobilizing communities around issues ranging from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to voter outreach and legal services.

Salas’s journey into activism is deeply personal. Born in Durango, Mexico, she arrived in the United States at the age of five, undocumented, to reunite with her parents who had migrated for work. Growing up in Pasadena, California, her family lived in the shadows of deportation until they were able to legalize their status. In 2008, Salas became a U.S. citizen, adding a powerful chapter to a story she shares with many of the people CHIRLA serves. Her own experience navigating the U.S. immigration system informs her commitment to building dignity, not dependency, in the immigrant rights movement. After graduating from Occidental College with a degree in history and sociology, Salas joined CHIRLA in 1995 and became its executive director just four years later.

Keep ReadingShow less
This Isn’t My Story. But It’s One I’ll Never Forget.

Children with American flags

This Isn’t My Story. But It’s One I’ll Never Forget.

My colleague, Meghan Monroe, a former teacher and trainer in the Dignity Index, went out to lunch with a friend on the 4th of July. Her friend was late and Meghan found herself waiting outside the restaurant where, to her surprise, a protest march approached. It wasn’t big and it wasn’t immediately clear what the protest was about. There were families and children marching—some flags, and some signs about America being free.

One group of children caught Meghan’s eye as they tugged at their mother while marching down the street. The mom paused and crouched down to speak to the children. Somehow, Meghan could read the situation and realized that the mom was explaining to the children about America—about what it is, about all the different people who make up America, about freedom, about dignity.

“I could just tell that the Mom wanted her children to understand something important, something big. I couldn’t tell anything about her politics. I could just tell that she wanted her children to understand what America can be. I could tell she wanted dignity for her children and for people in this country. It was beautiful.”

As Meghan told me this story, I realized something: that Mom at the protest is a role model for me. The 4th may be over now, but the need to explain to each other what we want for ourselves and our country isn’t.

My wife, Linda, and I celebrated America at the wedding of my godson, Alexander, and his new wife, Hannah. They want America to be a place of love. Dozens of my cousins, siblings, and children celebrated America on Cape Cod.

For them and our extended family, America is a place where families create an enduring link from one generation to the next despite loss and pain.

Thousands of Americans in central Texas confronted the most unimaginable horrors on July 4th. For them, I hope and pray America is a place where we hold on to each other in the face of unbearable pain and inexplicable loss.

Yes. It’s complicated. There were celebrations of all kinds on July 4th—celebrations of gratitude to our military, celebrations of gratitude for nature and her blessings, and sadly, celebrations of hatred too. There are a million more examples of our hopes and fears and visions, and they’re not all happy.

I bet that’s one of the lessons that mom was explaining to her children. I imagine her saying, “America is a place where everyone matters equally. No one’s dignity matters more than anyone else’s. Sometimes we get it wrong. But in our country, we always keep trying and we never give up.”

For the next 12 months as we lead up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we’re going to be hearing a lot about what we want America to be. But maybe the more important question is what we the people are willing to do to fulfill our vision of what we can be. The answer to that question is hiding in plain sight and is as old as the country itself: join with others and do your part, and no part is too small to matter.

At our best, our country is a country of people who serve one another. Some may say that’s out of fashion, but not me. Someone is waiting for each of us—to talk, to share, to join, to care, to lead, to love. And in our time, the superpower we need is the capacity to treat each other with dignity, even when we disagree. Differences of opinion aren’t the problem; in fact, they’re the solution. As we love to say, “There’s no America without democracy and there’s no democracy without healthy debate and there’s no healthy debate without dignity.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Beyond Party Lines
An illustration to symbolize two divided groups.
Getty Images / Andrii Yalanskyi

Beyond Party Lines

The American Experiment tested whether groups with diverse interests could unite under a declaration of common principles. In this moment, we face a critical juncture that tests whether distrust and political fervor could drive Americans to abandon or deny everything that unites us.

Henry Bolingbroke contends that party spirit inspires “Animosity and breeds Rancor.” Talking of his countrymen, he wrote, “We likewise derive, not our Privileges (for they were always ours) but a more full and explicit Declaration”; Whigs and Tories can unite on this alone. That Declaration of Ours was penned by Thomas Jefferson when his colonists repelled the redcoats at the Siege of Charleston and when Washington’s troops were awaiting battle in Manhattan. The American Declaration set out those principles, which united the diverse colonies. And the party system, as Bolingbroke said, brought animosity and weakened the Union. Critics disputed these claims. William Warburton attacked Bolingbroke as an evil-speaker with “dog-eloquence”—claimed his calls for party reform were an aristocratic conspiracy to cement the power of elites. An anonymous critic argued that the government is a union of unrelated people where laws supplant the natural bonds between families. Then, the government of the United States would not exist, or would not exist long.

Keep ReadingShow less