After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, I was asked to write a piece on unity. That’s pretty much my "thing" at NBC2. When something bad happens, I'm here to remind you that we all think puppies are cute and that we’ll somehow put our deep differences aside and find a way to come together.
But today, doing so feels ignorant to the obvious. As Americans, we just love to disagree.
We disagree about Pepsi or Coke. DC or Marvel. Kim or Kanye.
In 2015, we spent weeks debating whether that one dress was blue and black or white and gold and I still don’t think we came to a consensus!
All of this got me thinking of a story from my childhood. My sister Mackenzie and I were at my grandparents' house for dinner when she was asked to set the table.
As Mackenzie began placing the forks and knives and spoons, I got frustrated.
Eventually, this turned into a heated argument. She wasn’t setting the table the way I would set the table. I just assumed my sister’s way was wrong. I never asked her why she felt her way was right.
The debates in our country right now are obviously far more complex. Figuring out the best way to run America is much more challenging than setting a table.
But it seems the deeper the divide, the less likely we are to ask one another why .
Why do we feel the need to restructure our tax code? Or build a wall? Or ban assault weapons?
Asking why almost certainly won’t change someone else’s mind. But it would take us away from hatred and toward our shared fears and common hopes.
At that dinner all those years ago, my grandmother finally intervened.
She said: “Mackenzie sets the table her way. You set the table your way. Either way, we’ll still find a way to eat”.
And I’d like to think even after the weekend we just had, we can still find a way forward.