I’ve now talked to 40 people.
Forty complete strangers.
Different ages. Different backgrounds. Different races. Different experiences.
And let me say this right up front: forty people is not America.
I’m not Gallup. I don’t have a polling department. I don’t have a statistician sitting behind me with twelve computer screens.
I’ve got an iPhone and a willingness to bother strangers.
So no — this is not a scientific poll.
But something is happening in these conversations that I think is worth paying attention to.
I ask everybody the same first question:
“What worries you most about where the country is headed?”
And so far, two answers keep rising to the top.
Number one: the economy.
People are worried about making ends meet. Housing. Food. Bills. Their kids. Their future.
Number two: racism.
And this is where the conversations get really interesting.
When I talk to white people about racism, I often hear:
“We’ve come a long way.”
And when I talk to people of color, I often hear:
“We’ve still got a long way to go.”
At first, those sound like opposing answers.
But they’re not.
Imagine you and I decide to drive from North Carolina to California.
We’ve been driving forever.
We’re tired. We’ve eaten enough gas-station food to shorten both of our lives.
And somewhere around Oklahoma, I look at you and say:
“Wow. Look how far we’ve come!”
And you look at the map and say:
“Yeah, but look how far we’ve still got to go.”
Now we could pull the car over and spend three hours screaming at each other.
“WE’VE COME A LONG WAY!”
“WE’VE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO!”
“LOOK BEHIND US!”
“LOOK IN FRONT OF US!”
Meanwhile, we’re sitting on the shoulder of I-40 accomplishing absolutely nothing.
Because here’s the ridiculous part:
We’re both right.
We’ve come a long way.
And we’ve still got a long way to go.
So why are we fighting about it?
Get back in the damn car.
That’s what these conversations are beginning to teach me.
Maybe Americans aren’t nearly as divided about everything as we’ve been told we are.
Maybe sometimes we’re looking at the same problem from different places in the same car.
A white American can look at this country’s history and say:
“My God, look at the progress we’ve made.”
And a Black American can look at their experience today and say:
“My God, look at the work we still have left to do.”
One statement does not invalidate the other.
And here’s the part that gives me hope:
Both people recognize that there is still a problem.
Think about that.
That’s common ground.
Maybe instead of spending all of our energy arguing about whether the glass is 60 percent full or 40 percent empty, we could spend some of that energy figuring out how to fill the damn glass.
Because ultimately, who cares which passenger had the better description of the trip?
The question is:
Are we still going to California?
That’s the question I think we need to start asking about a lot of things in this country.
Not:
Are you Republican?
Are you Democrat?
Are you liberal?
Are you conservative?
Did your side cause it?
Did my side cause it?
Who gets the blame?
Instead:
Do we agree there’s a problem?
If the answer is yes, then congratulations.
We’ve got somewhere to start.
Now let’s figure out what we can actually do about it.
And I’m seeing hints of that in these conversations.
Forty interviews aren’t enough for me to tell you what America thinks.
That’s why I’m going to keep listening.
I want a hundred.
And frankly, maybe a hundred won’t be the end of it.
Because something happens when you stop telling people what they think and simply ask them.
People talk.
They tell you what scares them.
They tell you what frustrates them.
And they tell you what they hope could change.
And underneath all the political labels, I’m beginning to hear something remarkably human:
People want a decent life.
They want an economy that gives ordinary people a chance.
They want their children to have opportunities.
They want to be treated with dignity.
They want their neighbors treated with dignity.
And they want to believe they have some say in the country they’re leaving behind.
We don’t have to agree about how far we’ve traveled.
We don’t even have to agree about every turn we’re going to make along the way.
But if we can agree that there are problems worth solving — and that we’re better off solving them together — then we’ve already found something this country desperately needs:
a starting point.
So I’m going to keep asking questions.
I’m going to keep listening.
And I’m going to get to 100.
Then we’re going to put those voices together and see what they actually tell us.
Because maybe America isn’t arguing about where we’re going.
Maybe we’re sitting in the same car, looking out different windows.
And if that’s true?
For God’s sake…
let’s stop fighting over the view and start driving.
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