What happens when a community can’t talk, really, about a complex, pressing issue? When it comes to illegal immigration, our local community – like our nation – has failed to have the kind of real civic conversation so essential to democracy.
Protesters in the streets, advocates talking through the media, emotional letters to the editor: none of this “public debate” has furthered our real understanding of the illegal immigration issue, much less built consensus around a solution. The lack of honest dialogue has resulted in a polarized nation.
The recently graduated class of the American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley conducted a “dialogue” about illegal immigration with 100-plus regional leaders. While “debate” is about advocating your own view and proving the other side wrong, true “dialogue” is about learning from the views of others. Dialogue seeks to understand all sides of an issue, assumes that many people have pieces of the answer, and that some common ground can be found. In order to have real dialogue, we must pass beyond our emotional reactions and learn to address assumptions and facts in a deeper, more constructive fashion.
Despite valiant attempts over many months, our class – 20 leaders from quite diverse backgrounds – found the topic of illegal immigration incredibly difficult to talk about, even among ourselves. A stale “politeness” and “political correctness” prevailed. We guarded our public personas and didn’t talk honestly about concerns and views. Some feared being marked as intolerant – about the worst accusation a leader in the Bay Area could face. Some feared offending colleagues whose families came to this country illegally. A Latino leader felt pressure to be a “united front” with his ethnic colleagues – expressing any concern about illegal immigration is perceived as betraying his community. And the words alone were difficult: “illegal immigration,” “undocumented workers,” “illegal immigrants” – all sparked reactions.
Our struggle, though, affirmed our belief that leaders must not shy away from hard conversations. We planned our large dialogue with the 100-plus leaders for April. To ensure diverse views were in the room, we videotaped beforehand people on all sides of the issue, including undocumented workers willing to share their stories.
While we only scratched the surface on our dialogue day, the conversations did tease out a range of perspectives and views of the issue – some rarely voiced. A Latino pastor described his concerns about hard-core gang members passing easily over borders. Some expressed discomfort viewing people who live here illegally as “victims.” Others saw demonization of immigrants as a troubling political tactic. Some spoke openly about the corruption and economic structure of Mexico that keeps people down. Others expressed fear that natives just don’t like the Mexican culture and fear its spread.
After only two hours of conversation, there were several common insights.
This issue touches all of us. Almost every participant had a personal connection point to illegal immigration. Even as we look to national leadership, we must address this issue locally.
The current “system” works for no one – not for immigrants, not for employers, not for communities, not for residents.
There are not two sides to this issue – there are many sides. Understanding others’ thinking can improve our own.
Talking openly about fears actually aids understanding; it helps reveal our assumptions. Sharing personal and family stories helps us recognize commonality.
It’s the hardest thing to start a conversation when you don’t know where it will end. But we have started, and this conversation must continue. There is so much to be gained from talking about illegal immigration as a full community conversation. The stakes on this one are high: the lives of real people, the future of our economy and, equally important, the long-term civic health of our community.
Can we talk?
