The differences felt in this millennium are that great changes are hitting middle income whites who, for the first time in generations, face the prospect that they will be less well off than their parents, and that their children and possibly their grandchildren may be worse off still. During other times of economic stress, the people exercising the levers of power fought back by holding onto whatever remained in their control. This time around is no different with efforts to demonize immigrants, laws that turn back the clock on voting rights, and a growing tendency to hunker down into camps of us against them. What has changed, however, is that the 24-hour news cycle and social media no longer allow events to unfold without the rest of the world seeing them firsthand.
This ability to communicate instantly and broadly may also offer a path for greater understanding once groups are able to harness these resources to shape a collective conversation. As disquieting as Ferguson and similar events may be, broad public awareness may also provide the means for actions that bridge the gulfs that separate races and ethnicities. Our focus should be on taking actions aimed at expanding local economies rather than fighting over the remaining pieces. But, in order to work together, we need shared conversations. Unfortunately, our words fail us.
About eight years ago, I attempted to organize an initiative to bring families together around their kitchen tables to talk about the challenges of everyday life and to organize a larger discussion as to how these challenges may be addressed together with other families. I imagined doing this through informal gatherings such as book clubs, sewing circles, barbershops and hair salons, musical gatherings, and places of worship, clubs, civic groups, and governments through their elected representatives. Needless to say, the project fell on its face – not only because families no longer sit around kitchen tables to talk – but also because we lack the vocabulary and shared values that are needed to get past the tendency to assign blame. We simply do not know how to work together to solve problems.
I still believe that we can have these conversations, and all of the forms that I previously imagined will play key roles. But, what we lacked before was a focus. This time around, I think there are ways to bind us rather than divide, starting with the question of how to expand economic opportunities rather than quarrel over left-over crumbs.
First and foremost, this means changing economic incentives so as to reward businesses, their executives and shareholders when companies develop and produce new products and services. America and Illinois have lost much of their creative edge. The Chicago metro area alone has lost nearly 42 percent of private sector research and development jobs over the last 10 years. This is important because the process that takes new ideas and puts them into practice requires a human touch, great skills, and rewards workers with good wages. If we are not generating new ideas, we do not need workers who can make or deliver new products and services.
This is, of course, a long-term strategy. In the meantime, we need to support the growth of jobs that pay living wages and that act as transitions to higher-skilled, middle-wage paying permanent jobs as they emerge and grow. Our immediate economic development strategies should be guided by strong moral and wealth creation principles and not simply by quick wins. Entry-level jobs need to truly be transitional opportunities and not dead-ends as many are now discovering.
Second, we can no longer continue to create throw-away communities by simply expanding into virgin territories. The Chicago metropolitan area has the dubious distinction of ranking high near the top worldwide in urban sprawl. This isolates people from jobs, creates enormous costs for government that are reflected in high taxes, and slows economic growth by diffusing talent across a broad land mass. Detroit is an extreme example of huge carrying costs for infrastructure and no one to pay for it. The loss of 25 percent of Chicago’s population since 1960 has certainly contributed to our city’s financial woes. Building new condos is not the answer. Jobs need to return to the industrial corridors on Chicago’s south and west sides and there is no comprehensive initiative aimed at doing that.
Finally, Ferguson and other events like it are an awakening that fear is turning each of us against the other. Race, immigration and economic and social distinctions continue to divide us and the rifts are growing into deep canyons. It was not very long ago when pauper towns and veteran encampments were raided by police and the army with the aim of dispersing the poor. America has experienced many tragic periods where we have lost collective respect for each other and for human life. Silence and ignorance provide the fertile ground that creates the conditions for repeating such tragedies. It is not too far-fetched to imagine some places returning to that past.
There has never been one America. This is not necessarily bad since, like it or not, our diversity has been a source of strength throughout our history. At the same time, race has served as a dividing line for America since its founding.
Today’s challenges transcend race. We must confront our hubris and realize that global challenges require that we come together rather than fight each other. Ferguson is a not just about a white police officer and a young African American man. It is also about a greater fear that grips us over what the future holds for all Americans. Concentrating power in the hands of a single group is a short-term tactic that simply delays our understanding of a larger truth – that our problems are shared and that our solutions require that we build trust and act in consort toward a common set of goals. This time, my hope is that we seize the events of Ferguson, Detroit, Sanford, Florida, and other tragedies and use them to help us grow a more inclusive democracy that results in shared power over a growing economic pie.
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