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I have long maintained that hope is the very oxygen of democracy. Yet today, inequality threatens to suffocate that hope.
Despite a reckoning with anti-Black racism in 2020, hate crimes in the United States have increased year after year. Despite attempts to overhaul a broken health care system, ZIP code is still more determinative of health than genetic code. Despite a global pandemic that underscored just how essential so many workers are, labor protections are under attack as income inequality continues to rise. Despite promises from both parties to lower costs and improve daily life, one in six Americans struggles with food insecurity. In a nation where disparities are this stark, it’s no surprise that so many feel that the odds are stacked against them.
Inequality segregates our society, splitting our communities and country along racial and economic lines and reducing the odds that we’ll interact with those who don’t share our experience. And thanks to a profit-driven media ecosystem where outrage garners eyeballs, we are increasingly confined to digital echo chambers that inflame our passions but dull our empathy. As a result, polarization rages through our screens and into our streets.
In truth, polarization is not the cause of our alienation but rather the effect. And while our polarized society is rife with strong opinions, volume doesn’t equate to engagement. In fact, this cacophony reflects a lack of engagement — and an unwillingness to empathize — with those who are different.
Partisan animosity in America nearly doubled in the course of a decade and continues to grow. Americans are now divided not just over traditionally contentious topics, but also over areas like public health, which once held a measure of collective consensus. Those at the far ends of the political spectrum believe the opposing party’s policies “are so misguided that they threaten the nation’s well-being,” according to the Pew Research Center. This division damages our democratic systems, obstructing compromise and giving zealots false justification for political violence.
These problems aren’t unique to the United States. Other countries and conflict-riddled regions have pulled themselves back from the brink — not by shying away from engagement but by seeking it out. In post-apartheid South Africa, Nelson Mandela’s new government required perpetrators of racist violence to confess fully and confront the consequences of their crimes in order to receive amnesty, helping the nation move forward in peace. And in Northern Ireland, coalitions grounded in civil society helped forge an imperfect but invaluable peace, opening channels of communication between Catholics and Protestants to end decades of violence known as the Troubles.
As the head of a global organization dedicated to combating inequality, I believe deeply in philanthropy’s power — and responsibility — to support civic engagement as the antidote to a polarized society.
And I have seen firsthand the impact of investing in organizations that help governments and citizens come together, fostering and facilitating increased engagement.
By funding the essential work of grantees such as the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center and the Equity Alliance, we promote community leadership and give marginalized communities tools to fully engage in the civic process. And through partnerships such as the new Global Initiative on Polarization, our collaboration with the Institute for Integrated Transitions, we develop research and delve into stories that foster a deeper understanding of the causes, consequences, and solutions to growing global polarization.
Unfortunately, polarizing forces too often attack initiatives that threaten the division on which they thrive. They criticize philanthropic support for civic engagement as inherently political, mischaracterizing it as benefiting a particular group, when in truth, greater engagement helps society as a whole. We must not buckle under such baseless claims. At best, they reflect a cynical view of the world; at worst, they represent a calculated campaign designed to discourage participation.
We know that democracy is not a partisan prize but a collective inheritance. Ultimately, the benefits of civic engagement are overwhelming — and they extend to everyone and every cause.
As philanthropists, whether we are funding urban revitalization or rural development, tackling the opioid crisis or taking action on climate change, we must recognize that progress depends on a healthy democracy — one that attacks inequality and restores hope for the future, and one that carries the cares and concerns of an engaged populace through a trusted, transparent system that reflects the will of “we the people.” Democracy is the bedrock upon which all else stands or falls. Now is the time for foundations and other funders to reinforce our dedication to its advancement. Civic engagement is the antidote to polarization, and philanthropy, its catalyst.
The Commons is financed in part with philanthropic support from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Einhorn Collaborative, and JPB Foundation. The Ford Foundation is also a supporter of the Chronicle. None of our supporters have any control over or input into story selection, reporting, or editing, and they do not review articles before publication. See more about the Chronicle, the grants, how our foundation-supported journalism works, and our gift-acceptance policy.
