Cast Aside the Words That Divide

Let's say a few words in defense of the threatened virtues of grace, civility and good manners. They've been in short supply of late.

Recently, Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina interrupted a presidential speech to shout "You lie!'' at Barack Obama. Three days later, tennis champion Serena Williams launched a foul-mouthed tirade at a line judge. The next day rapper Kanye West rushed the stage at an awards show, ripped the microphone from a recipient and harangued that the wrong nominee had been honored. Each incident was broadcast on national television, spreading a contagion of unchecked anger from Hilton Head to Honolulu.

Such outbursts could and should pass quickly from public attention if they weren't reflective of an all-too-common trend in the broader culture. Americans are ticked, and many, it seems, are ready to vent on anyone within reach.

Some on the political right have taken to calling the president a socialist, communist or even comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Four years ago, it was some on the political left who were hurling similar over-the-top insults at George W.

In an unwinnable war of retaliatory insults, some of Obama's supporters are now quick to assign racist motivations to the president's critics.

Can we, for the sake of the nation, agree that all of us should not carelessly toss around labels such as socialist or racist? That it's below the belt to compare an American president to Hitler, whether the jab comes from the left or the right? And that the out-of-bounds words and actions of the nation's elite — whether from the circles of entertainment, sports or politics — inflict real damage on families, schools and neighborhoods?

It's tempting to excuse Americans' hurricane-force anger as another sign of hard economic times. But the nation has weathered worse storms in the past with more unity and grace. Are the stakes truly higher this time around? Or have we let go of too many of the ties that bind us as a people and a nation?

The United States is indeed facing deep challenges, and they stretch well beyond the current recession. Confronting and conquering them might well depend on whether we as a nation can relearn the old virtues. Civility does not signal dispassion. Grace does not equal weakness. Courtesy is a decision to invest in our neighbors, our society and ourselves.

REPRINTED FROM THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR

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