Did you see this short piece on the banning of Maus in Tennessee? It’s worth a quick read. The author is outraged but struggling with how to productively engage in her local community. She notes first and foremost that “Plenty of people in East Tennessee are livid over a school board’s decision to remove “Maus” from the language arts curriculum. But indiscriminate outrage on TV and social media isn’t helping the local dissenters who are trying to build a better way forward.” Read the full story by clicking here.
Bill Would Create Non-Partisan Pilot Program Within AmeriCorps to Support Community Civic Bridgebuilding, Build Relationships Across Lines of Difference
Washington, DC – Today, nine Republicans and nine Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Building Civic Bridges Act – bipartisan legislation to empower communities to tackle sources of division while assisting local civic and community organizations with ongoing efforts to address contentious issues and ultimately, bridge divides.
According to an NBC News poll conducted in January 2022, 70 percent of Americans agree with the statement that “America has become so polarized that it can no longer solve the major issues facing the country — and that those differences will only continue to grow” – up from 45 percent in 2010. The increase in polarization is prompting serious doubts about whether American democracy is under threat. That same NBC News poll showed that 76 percent of Americans — including 7 in 10 Democrats, Republicans, and independents — “believe there is a threat to democracy and majority rule in this country.” Read on…
