Keeping America Together

The Challenge: Political Polarization

Tango Equity supports and is intimately involved in the initiatives of the BRAVER ANGELS. Braver Angels was instituted to ameliorate the broad and dangerous divisions that have developed in the political arena in our country. The “other party” is no longer being portrayed as wrong, they have been demonized.

Politics is tough. It always has been. American politics is competitive, thrilling, frustrating – and infuriating. The stakes are high. Issues are important. Outcomes matter. This is why we care, and should care, about our politics.

But do our politics have to be demonizing? Does it have to bring out the worst in us? Do our politics have to destroy the goodwill of our society?  Is the dehumanizing of our fellow Americans something we should accept?

Affective political polarization (not only disagreement on issues but personal contempt and distrust) has been growing between us for at least 25 years. In other words the vitriol in American politics was a problem long before Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the 2020 election.

Yet today, there is evidence to suggest that we are now as polarized as we have been since the Civil War. Americans no longer see their political opponents as simply wrong or misguided. They see them as enemies who must be defeated at all costs.

We do not accept this. 

At Braver Angels we do not accept this division. We reject the normalizing of this extreme polarization. We say no to the break down of political and social life that it brings. 

Our work is about building civic trust in the USA. It is about healing the wounds between left and right. 

It is about challenging institutions to be better, building community together, and discovering what it means to be American in our time. 

Our work is about supporting a more perfect union. Our work is about inspiring the beloved community.