The US Chamber of Commerce, the organization that represents businesses, jumped on the civics bandwagon in 2019 when they issued a report called “The Business Case for Civics Education.” I LOVE the first sentence: “Civics sounds old-fashioned, but it might be the antidote to some of the biggest challenges organizations are facing in the. 21st century.”
At first I wondered why businesses would be fans of civics education, but the report helped me understand. Businesses need employees who can get along—“workplaces are the one place where all races, religions, and ages congregate and need to get along.” Workplaces require civil discourse, one piece of the civics puzzle.
As the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield (Dr. Craig Samitt) said, “Some might say that the absence of civil discourse is not accepting what makes people different.”
He’s spot on. If we decide that it’s not okay for people to be different than ourselves or those in our circle, then we are less likely to treat those people as equals or colleagues or people entitled to the same rights we are.
Another quote from the report: “The skill of argument, of debate, is part of classic civics training, as is learning to respect and understand others who are of different races or religions or backgrounds.”
I’m a realist. No amount of civics education is going to change the minds of those people determined to hate differences—skin color, religion, sexual orientation or gender, country of origin, etc. But I have hope that most of the American people, the silent majority, if you will, are either there, or could be with some help.
We have lots of choices in life … I choose hope.
https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/reports/business-case-civics-education
photo from https://www.columbus.gov/odi/Workforce-Diversity/
2 Responses
I just wish more people would understand the concept of Race. We o it have one race on our planet, the human race. Our race is diverse and made up of many colors, but we are one race. If the majority of the population believes that concept it would go along way towards understanding civics.
Absolutely. “Race” is something white people dreamed up to justify their treatment of BIPOC humans.