Are we ripping at the seams?

In the last edition of Depolarize, we asked whether coronavirus would bring Americans together or push us further apart. At the time, we were in the early stages of the pandemic, and neither mask wearing nor social distancing had settled into any discernible patterns along geographic, economic, or political fault lines.

Since then, what a roller coaster ride. What's now becoming clearer is that partisan politics have played a role -- at times, a significant role -- in shaping both government policy and citizen behavior in the context of COVID-19.  

Meanwhile, racial justice protests in the wake of George Floyd's death have cracked open racial, political, and economic fault lines across the country and around the globe. Scroll down to learn how Civic Health Project grantees are responding.

Will protests and the pandemic pull us together,
or push us further apart?

We explore this and other questions in Depolarize, an online publication from Civic Health Project. In each issue, we spotlight the most promising ideas, interventions, and opportunities to heal political division in our communities, and across the United States as a whole.

We invite you to read further.

"... recent studies suggest that Americans’ differing attitudes about the pandemic are driven at least partly by political affiliation."

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Racial Divides and Racial Justice:
Civic Health Project Grantees Respond

America's political and racial divisions have always been intertwined.Civic Health Project is proud to spotlight the ways in which our grantee organizations are participating in America's current moment by seeking ways to heal racial divides while also advocating for racial justice. Take a moment to appreciate these two companion editorials in USA Today: one by Fred Riley, Executive Director of Weave: The Social Fabric Project, and the other by Pearce Godwin, Executive Director of the Listen First Project. Fred and Pearce, who lead the two organizations spearheading the #WeavingCommunity social impact campaign (a CHP grantee), share intensely personal perspectives on America's long quest for racial equity and justice. The Reunited States documentary (another CHP grantee), which just premiered globally at the prestigious Woods Hole Film Festival, weaves appeals for racial and political healing into its profiles of Americans who feel called to bridge across our sharp divides. One of the film's plotlines follows Susan Bro, whose daughter Heather Heyer was killed in Charlottesville in 2018, exemplifying the human toll of lingering racial division in America. (See Spotlight section below for more about The Reunited States.)Living Room Conversations has published a new online resource center featuring its Race and Ethnicity three-conversation series. For those who don't feel ready or equipped to engage in conversation directly, the resource center provides full-length podcasts of others conversing in small groups to better understand diverse perspectives on race and ethnicity.One America Movement's board members Leslie Copeland Tune and Matthew T. Hawkins penned this insightful blog sharing and comparing their perspectives on race, racism, and religion in America: "We are an African-American, progressive Christian woman and a white, conservative evangelical man .... Racism is a sin that we have a responsibility to root out of institutions and systems, and Christians can lead the way." For those seeking a broad vantage point on how issues related to racial justice are covered in the media, AllSides offers its Race and Racism and Criminal Justice topic pages, which feature media coverage of these issues from left-, right-, and center-leaning news publications.

Spotlight on Solutions

More than a year ago, documentary filmmakers Ben Rehki, Raj Krishna, and Sol Tyron set out to tell the stories of several Americans working bravely to bridge America's political and racial divides.

When Civic Health Project first got involved with this film project, we didn’t foresee COVID. Or George Floyd. And November 2020 seemed far away. We couldn’t have predicted then just how timely, and necessary, and relevant this film would be. We're incredibly proud to have played a small role in bringing The Reunited States to screens across America.

Learn More About The Reunited States

Revealing Research

Beyond Conflict recently published America's Divided Mind: Understanding the Psychology That Drives Us Apart. Based heavily on research conducted at UPenn's Peace and Conflict Neuroscience Lab / Beyond Conflict Innovation Lab, the study posits that Americans are driven part by three distinct psychological divides: Dehumanization, Dislike, and Disagreement on Key Issues.

Download the Beyond Conflict Report

Engaging Events

In May 2020, Civic Health Project sponsored the Greater Good Science Center's Bridging Differences event, which was attended (virtually, of course) by more than 400 people seeking to build skills in bridging divides. GGSC has distilled the insights from this powerful one-day event into a user-friendly playbook. Check it out!

Download the GGSC Playbook

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