Six weeks ago, I walked the battlefield of Gettysburg with the historian Nancy Koehn. There in southern Pennsylvania, during three sweltering July days in 1863, more than 40,000 Americans died or were wounded. Without visiting Gettysburg, it may be hard to grasp the divisions and bloody sacrifices that played out in its hills.
Back home after our visit, we watched with dismay the awful events in Charlottesville, and heard the vile cries of white supremacists and anti-Semites who paraded without shame, and without hoods. Days later came the crude vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial.
The potential consequences of these events are much more dire than many leaders acknowledged. Some even dared to make false claims of moral equivalence. We thought of Gettysburg, and asked what we might glean from that pivotal period.
What are the right lessons to take from history? The battle at Gettysburg was a microcosm of a larger conflict facing a young nation: a struggle between two visions of national identity that centred on the institution and morality of slavery. This struggle threatened to cleave the nation in two.
The outcome not only preserved the union, but proved another step in the country’s journey to fulfil the true promise of America: that all people are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights. Abraham Lincoln’s leadership demonstrated that even the most violent discord is an opportunity to lay groundwork for a shared higher purpose. His brief yet brilliant Gettysburg address helped the country forge a path forward.
Today, our country is not in a civil war. But we are in another period of grave division. Racism was on the march in Charlottesville, and persists throughout the country. Threats to civil liberties must not stand. After hateful acts, words are powerful. We look to leaders to condemn vitriol and intolerance, as well as to reaffirm our foundational values. Many have spoken out since Charlottesville, but the time for words has not passed. It never will. Not enough of our elected officials are using their voice with due force and eloquence to elevate the ideal of equality.
We implore all elected officials to speak their conscience with more conviction. History shows that silence is unforgivable, for it gives bigotry licence. And when meek words masquerade as moral courage, they are perceived as indifference and give the worst of human nature permission to flourish.
All of us in positions of power — politicians, parents, chief executives and educators — must see ourselves as part of history’s bigger picture and ask, “What is my responsibility to the republic?”
Two weeks ago, Starbucks held a town-hall meeting in Seattle to discuss what was happening in the country. More than 1,000 people attended. All were invited to share. A father stood up and said that he did not know how to answer his daughter when she asked why the family chose to live in America.
What do we say to all our children so they, too, may forge ahead? We can tell them that America remains a beacon of hope, but we must stay humble and serve our country, abroad and in communities, to earn her freedoms.
We can say that democracy is messy, especially in a country that welcomes people from many lands and with diverse backgrounds and lifestyles. But differences are a source of unmatched strength in the global economy and a digitally connected world.
We can tell them that the work to form a more perfect union never ends, that debate and disagreement are necessary. At times our country moves forward, at times we fall back, but our experiment has not failed, and we won’t let it fail now. We can tell them that, while a good education and good jobs are not equally accessible to all, they must be.
But we can also say that America is still the only country where, for more generations than anywhere on earth, parents have told their children that their station in life does not define them.
And we can remind them that small but loud groups, even armies, have always threatened our cherished ideals. But we rise to their defence and the best of us emerges.
It happened at Gettysburg. When 21,000 casualties from both sides of the conflict remained behind, the nurse Elmina Spencer helped build a temporary hospital and joined hundreds of volunteers who cared for soldiers in blue and grey uniforms. Elmina helped 600 Union soldiers and 200 Confederate troops. With words and actions, better angels emerged then. They must do so again today.
The writer is executive chairman of Starbucks. Nancy Koehn of Harvard Business School contributed to this article
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