Billy Joel came to mind this afternoon as I was engaged in a spirited discussion about the events of the past few days. Billy Joel wrote the mega hit, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and its cascading words rang as true as they did in 1989. Violence has been in our DNA for as long as our history in the Americas.
That history is ripe with examples, but let’s take a look at just one.
It’s 1856 and the nation is deeply troubled by the question of slavery – should it be allowed to exist and, if so, should it be allowed to expand into newly created states. It’s May 22 and Charles Sumner, the abolitionist senator from Massachusetts is speaking in the senate chamber. His fiery and pointedly accusatory speech takes two senators to task for their support of popular sovereignty in the admission of Kansas as state. (Remember the Kansas/Nebraska Act?) One of the men castigated in Sumner’s speech was a southerner and the rhetoric raised such ire among southerners that it demanded satisfaction.
Preston Brooks, a member of the House of Representatives from South Carolina and first cousin to one of the men called out in Sumner’s speech, wanted satisfaction by duel but was advised that since duels were between gentlemen, a duel could not happen because Sumner was not a gentleman. This sets the cultural tone of the times. Brooks then decided to beat Sumner as he would discipline an unruly dog. He strolled into the senate and beat Sumner with the metal head of his cane until it broke. When his cane broke, he continued his assault until other members of the senate chamber dragged him away
Sumner’s wounds were so serious that he could not return to his senate seat for almost three years.
A despicable and culturally biased event, it took on more momentous importance.
Both men, Sumner and Brooks, became heroes in their respective parts of the country, with the press and gossiping tongues repeating and elaborating on the event. Sumner was feted with extravagant parades and accolades as the Republican martyr who suffered for his cause, strengthening the connection between abolition and Republicans. Brooks’ actions were lauded as appropriate against an abolitionist. In the South, Sumner was condemned as a part of the plot exemplifying the North’s determination to eliminate slavery at the expense of the South. Books received no real punishment for his actions but was sent hundreds of canes to replace the one he broke during the assault.
Both sides, both North and South saw this incident as evidence to support their causes, churning it and its telling into political support for their positions. There was no instantaneous internet then, but time and tongues, time and exaggeration and outright lies contributed to the secession and war.
Can we learn from this?
The polarization of the political parties today is astoundingly similar. Neither party seems to have a middle ground, but rather operates from the edges, and, even when the middle ground is vocal, it is painted with the same negative, exaggerated, middle school taunting brush.
Are we being manipulated by the internet, where slick domestic and foreign actors have been identified as interfering with the electoral process by planting erroneous information, information that hardens the minds of one or the other if not both parties? Most assuredly this is true. Algorithms rule.
Who benefits from this polarization? Divide and conquer is as an adage old as time. Loosen the ties of family and community to create an endemic loneliness that seeks a party, a “man (or woman) on horseback” to save us. Someone to ride out and save us from the awfulness that we have been told exists, created by the other party.
Ask members of both parties as well as those without party affiliation and you will discover that all want the same thing: A good life not threatened by people, events and means over which they have no power.
This is not easy. We have to dial down the vitriol, the name calling and call out those who spread the outright lies and conspiracy theories. We have to exert some kind of filter against the immediacy and difficulty of verifying what we are told in social media. We have to talk to one another across party lines without prejudice to work through perceived issues and solutions without rancor. Hard? Yes. Doable? Necessary.
I wonder what the lyrics would be if Billy Joel wrote “We Didn’t Start the Fire” today?
