“Undivide Us”: Hopeful Doc About the Future of American Democracy
Cable news and social media give the impression that our federation of republics is on the verge of dissolution. Some believe the differences between groups of Americans are too great to be reconciled and that a national divorce, as advocated by demagogue Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA), is one means to settle our differences.
Some believe, as a political scientist Barbara F. Walter and journalist Stephen Marche do, that a civil war in the United States could happen or is inevitable. Speculative fiction such as the recent movie Civil War taps into fears many may have about a violent resolution to Americans’ political differences.
But is this impression accurate? Do Americans have as much animosity toward their neighbors as we are sometimes led to believe? A recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests Americans are more united over our identity than the sensationalists portray. The results showed that Americans overwhelmingly agree with equal protection before the law, the right to vote, freedom of speech, and other tenets of American liberal democracy.
The themes of perceived polarization and American identity are explored in the insightful documentary Undivide Us. A film as much as it is a call to action, Undivide Us records the happenings of a series of focus group discussions across three American cities. Each group is a mix of political and social persuasions. The groups discuss controversial topics, such as guns or transgenderism. What we discover is the positive power of civil discourse. We learn that we have much more in common than we have differences.
If one is anxious about discord between fellow Americans, as I am, Undivide Us will alleviate such concerns. When people of varying political beliefs are in a room together instead of behind screens, you will see that they can discuss controversial topics with mutual respect and in good faith without resorting to demonization or ad hominem. Domestic tranquility can be strengthened by just putting our phones down and talking to our neighbors.
Undivide Us is the directorial debut by Kristi Kendall, who served as an executive producer on narrative features such as Harriet and Beasts of No Nations. Like the messages of those films, set during violent civil strife, Undivide Us seeks peaceful human interaction and affirms each individual’s dignity. It strives to avoid the devastation the former films portrayed.
The film was produced by Carrie Conko, the Senior Vice President of State Policy Network. Affiliates and partners of the State Policy Network, such as the Acton Institute and Free to Choose Network, have also been producing insightful documentaries aimed at creating change. “The growing divide of toxic polarization erodes our core American values like individuality, family, community, democracy, and freedom,” she explains in the Undivide Us press materials. “It threatens and paralyzes the democratic institutions that make America the freest and most prosperous nation in the world.”
Undivide Us calls the audience to action. It asks the viewers to share the film with others, host a screening, and take an impact survey. Importantly, it also asks folks to take a “Pledge of Respect” that asks pledgers ahead of the 2024 elections to commit to listen, respectfully engage, and set an example. “Together, we can strengthen democracy for a brighter future,” the pledge concludes.
Why is democracy important? Ludwig von Mises explains it best: “Democracy is that form of political constitution which makes possible the adaptation of the government to the wishes of the governed without violent struggles. … By means of elections and parliamentary arrangements, the change of government is executed smoothly and without friction, violence, or bloodshed.”