Where Do We Go From Here: Building Trust in America
In the last weeks, I have felt in a tunnel with no light. As co-founder of The Policy Circle, I assembled four African-American and four caucasian women from DC, Nashville, Chicagoland, Topeka Kansas, and Dallas to participate in a 90 minutes virtual Policy Circle. My goal was to facilitate a conversation to unpack the racial tensions, and unrest in our society, but also a conversation that sheds a light at the end of the tunnel. “Where do we go from here: (Re)building Trust in America” was the theme of our Policy Circle conversation.
Prior to the meeting everyone adhered to The Policy Circle framework and reviewed the draft Policy Circle brief “Credibility in Crisis: Rebuilding Trust in America.” The brief provided cited facts and data to ground our conversation around trust in citizens, in institutions, in the media, education, and in businesses.
Everyone felt slightly nervous about this conversation, it definitely expanded the comfort zone of accomplished women. The Policy Circle discussion framework kicked off the discussion, allowing everyone to introduce themselves and share their unique perspective and experience they each brought to the conversation. This introduction allowed us to share where we were coming from professionally but also personally. Acknowledging a person and their unique history is the first step to building relationships.
Then, going around the zoom panel, we each shared our views on the state of trust in our communities and our nation. Then, we each shared one or two priorities to be addressed to move forward, and personal actions that we would take to heal tensions and change the narrative.
Here are some facts around trust, that are worth considering when diving into this conversation:
Law Enforcement: Americans’ levels of trust in law enforcement differ by demographics 30% of blacks have confidence in the police, vs 61% of whites and 45% of hispanics.
Business: According to a Morning Consult poll, 55% of Americans say they trust the average American company, but 60% of U.S. adults say corruption is widespread in business. The 2019 Gallup Confidence in Institutions survey found small businesses, in particular, have Americans’ trust, with 68% of U.S. adults saying they have “a great deal” of trust in small businesses.
Government: According to the January 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer, 54% of Americans say they trust their state and local governments to do what is right, while only 43% of Americans have the same trust in the federal government. America is not alone. A 2017 global survey by Pew Research of 38 countries found a median of only 14% of the global population say they trust their national government a lot.
Media: According to the Knight Foundation, the proportion of Americans with a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media fell from 54% to 32% between 2003 and 2016, and 69% of U.S. adults reported their trust in the news media has decreased in the past decade. A full 75% of respondents cited bias and 66% cited inaccuracy as reasons for this decrease. And 57% feel that social media divide us instead of uniting us.
Community: In the U.S. levels of trust are not as high as global averages, with approximately 35% of Americans believing “most people can be trusted” and 64% saying people “need to be very careful” around others, according to the World Values Survey.
We agreed that trust was at the root of the current tensions, and that based on personal experiences of being treated differently, some of us felt that actually trust has never been strong for all Americans towards all Americans. At the heart of the solution is building trust not only in our institutions but in each other.
For trust to be established, all parties must feel that they are equal. Personal experiences of bias make it difficult to feel equal and have trust in law enforcement, government, business, and people. Quentella shared her son’s question: “Why are stories at school about blacks always sad?” That comment led us to discuss how joyful stories and accomplishments of black entrepreneurs, scientists, bankers, innovators today, and throughout history need to be recognized, celebrated, and promoted so they become part of our nations’ culture and public narrative.
There is no other country that offers so many opportunities to its citizens, America is not perfect, but we must all work diligently to fix it. The media constantly reinforces stories of injustices and racism instead of stories of opportunities, success, and warm relationships. Discussing and acknowledging injustices and historical racism are a good start to pave the way for change, but positive actions have to be taken to eliminate biases, racism and create a trustworthy society. Those positive actions and stories have to be elevated.
Our conversation fostered trust, everyone shared their logic, and was authentic. The third round of our discussion was focused on actions to build a trustworthy society. Here are some of the actions that our participants are engaged in personally, with their family and in their communities and businesses:
Changing attitudes and narratives in schools and the media by supporting and promoting black scholars and leaders who came together under a collective called 1776unites.com to tell the stories of a black culture that embraces education, entrepreneurship, family, and happiness in seizing opportunities that enrich lives.
Stop finger-pointing and diversify the people that you are with to enrich your perspectives. Lead constructive conversations, invite people who don’t look like you to engage in meaningful conversations that build lasting relationships. it may be a book club, a prayer service, an educational session, or a Policy Circle. One participant started a “Let’s talk about it” group with her mostly white colleagues at the organization that she leads.
Bring to the table people whose voices are not heard, so they can be heard and feel part of the solution and the community. Invite blacks to be owners of the solutions.
Take the time to understand others and have empathy for people, their construct and experiences to ignite their potential. Project One Ten in Chicago helps black and brown boys successfully transition from middle school to high school through academic coaching and mentorship.
Let’s be honest with ourselves and see our own biases that we may not know we have. One participant is planning to launch a podcast “Creating Conversations” modeling conversations with diverse points of view.
Media is a huge part of the divide in our country. We need to get out of our media bubble and seek other points of view. Let’s swim counter current and change the cancel culture of the media.
Trust is built on relationships. Relationships grow out of meaningful conversations where people have a chance to speak. At home, at work, within our networks, let’s create those spaces to invite those conversations where all voices can be heard, ideas can be shared with real people in real time. At the risk of sounding overly optimistic, you can only be the change that you want to see. We can all do our part to create meaningful change and action in our communities. #circleup #thepolicycircle #relationshipbuilding
For more information about The Policy Circle, visit https://www.thepolicycircle.org/