How to (and not to) stop culture wars, fight racism, integrate schools, and build housing
Happy Solstice, loyal readers, and thank you for being here.
Today’s issue explores the benefits and struggles of engaging and working with people across difference. I think you’ll like it. The lead article examines how a community in Ohio worked together to stave off an incendiary culture war. The second piece explores how collaborating across race demands commitment and thoughtfulness. The third article takes on the issue from a systems lens, explaining how a school integration plan in Seattle failed to meet its goals. Rounding out today’s issue is an essay that uncovers different notions of what it means to be liberal.
Hope you find at least one of the articles thought provoking. If so, tell me about it! I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
1️⃣ How One City Stopped a Culture War
There are so many dispiriting stories out there about communities across the country ripping themselves apart. You know about these. They involve adults yelling at each other at school board meetings about books and masks and vaccines and saying gay and CRT and trans kids. I’m pleased to say, This is not one of those stories. Courtney E. Martin travels to Middletown, Ohio, to report on how when things got bad, a Black superintendent reached out for support from religious leaders. Their message? Everyone belongs here, no matter our differences. And: Let’s focus on the kids. “Middletown is a strong city,” one resident said. “It is strong because of our faith to love and respect one another. It is strong because of our diversity. Last but not least, it is strong because our students are resilient.”
➡️ Read the article | Christian Science Monitor | 13 minutes | Printable version
2️⃣ When Teaming Up to Fight Racism Gets Complicated
After they witnessed a white barista call the police on two Black businessmen asking to use the restroom at a Starbucks in Philadelphia five years ago, Michelle Saahene and Melissa DePino knew they needed to do something to combat racism. They teamed up, launched a nonprofit, and led workshops on diversity and inclusion. They were a big hit. Corporations booked their services, and their careers skyrocketed. It helped that Ms. Saahene is Black and Ms. DePino is white. They were a dynamic duo who demonstrated the power of working together across race. That is — until the Reckoning of 2020 subsided and they started blaming each other, accusing each other of abuse. Ms. Saahene said, “Black people shouldn’t always have to be in therapist or coach mode.” Ms. DePino said, “I’m not really sure what I did wrong.”
➡️ Read the article | Los Angeles Times | 13 minutes | Printable version
Watson, who belongs to loyal reader Maria, is a snuggle bug who loves to chew on just about anything. When she isn’t playing with her toys, she can be found napping on her pillow. Want your pet to appear here? hltr.co/pets
3️⃣ Seattle Schools Chose Integration. Then It Fell Apart.
It’s hard for me to believe that back in the 1970s, there were some cities that successfully forced families to bus their children to school in the name of racial integration. It just seems so far-fetched to me, given today’s politics. But beginning in 1978, Seattle did it, as this well-written article explains. First came voluntary programs, then mandatory busing, which desegregated the schools — but also led to white flight and resistance from Black families, whose kids had to travel farther and more often. “I don’t need someone of a different race sitting next to me in order to learn,” said Superintendent John Stanford, who was Black. By the 1990s, when integration had reached its height, the backlash grew too strong, and the district retreated to a ranked choice admissions policy with a race-based tiebreaker. That wasn’t enough for white families, who sued and won at the Supreme Court. Now Seattle schools are as segregated as they were in 1970. Special bonus: The piece includes a photograph capturing loyal reader Matt when he was 6 years old.
➡️ Read the article | The Seattle Times | 12 minutes | Printable version
4️⃣ In Berkeley, Everyone’s a Liberal, but Housing Divides
I grew up in the Bay Area, and went to college in Berkeley, so I know firsthand (as do many of you!) that white progressives here really want social justice — as long as it doesn’t inconvenience us and everything remains the same. In this piece, Daniel Duane recounts his idyllic childhood growing up in Berkeley in the 1970s, when fighting for a better world meant preserving People’s Park and protecting natural resources against capitalist intruders. But times have changed, Mr. Duane argues, and his mother, who still lives in his childhood home, has not. “Where are all the birds supposed to go?” she asks, when her younger neighbors call for new housing. “Are we just going to turn everything into Manhattan?”
It was hard not to wonder if we all reach a point in our lives at which personal convenience and a fear of change become imperceptibly commingled with our sense of the common good.
What I appreciate most about this piece is that Mr. Duane is able to criticize his mother (and other Berkeley NIMBYs) but also to explain their perspective and practice empathy for their lived experiences. But there’s a difference between having empathy and allowing privileged people to maintain their comfort at the expense of others.
➡️ Read the article | The New York Times Magazine | 15 minutes
Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀
To our four new subscribers — including Rob and Peter – I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Kati! Katie! Katy!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Charlene, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.
If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:
📬 Invite your friends to subscribe. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? I’d love it if you encouraged them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you for spreading the word.
Share The Highlighter Article Club
❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Rob (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. It’s $5 a month or $36 a year.
On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT for Issue #400.