There Is Only Us

The celebrated filmmaker and critic of American history, Ken Burns, has explored the lives of well-known as well as anonymous Americans, sometimes in granular detail, for the past fifty years. His documentaries on subjects as diverse as The American Revolution, Ernest Hemingway, Jackie Robinson, Benjamin Franklin, The Roosevelts, Thomas Jefferson, and The Civil War, to name just a few, have opened windows into America’s colorful but complicated past that otherwise would have remained obscure for many of us, if not completely closed.

Ken Burns, American Filmmaker

If you haven’t seen Burns’ documentary on The Civil War, you have missed the most gripping and tragic portrayal of division, discord, and suffering in American history. Much of the history of the bloody conflict has been documented through preserved, hand-written correspondence that Burns has skillfully woven into the war narrative. Accompanied by poignant violin music softly playing in the background, these letters, written by both Union and Confederate soldiers, are read to the television audience, recording for all time their fears, hopes, faith, and eyewitness testimonies of the horrors of battle. These personal, often heart-wrenching, letters were addressed to their wives, sweethearts, and parents. I’ve watched the series a number of times, yet my emotions betray me again and again when I am told that the young men who wrote these words often died months, if not days, after their messages had been sent.

The war to enshrine slavery in the Southern States, as an acceptable way of life, is arguably the lowest point in our almost 250-year-old American story. The war almost destroyed the United States and, unfortunately, the effects are still being felt over 150 years later. Few would deny that the persistent belief in a racial hierarchy continues to threaten the constitution’s hope that America would become a nation where all people would be treated as equal under the law.

Many of our Founding Fathers lacked the moral clarity that later generations of Americans would embrace. The memory of national disgraces, such as slavery, the Civil War, mob lynching, and segregation have moved millions of Americans to a more mature understanding of what it means to strive for “a more perfect union,” a nation where all races are treated with respect and dignity. Still, not all Americans have seen the light. We still have a long way to go to fulfill that inchoate hope dreamed by our Founding Fathers, for the dangers that threaten our democracy continue to reside within our democratic republic.

A young Abraham Lincoln recognized the greatness of America but also its vulnerability to an illiberal ideology when he said:

At what point shall we expect the approach of danger?

Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant

to step the earth and crush us at a blow?

Never. All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa could

not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or

make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a

thousand years. If destruction be our lot, we must

ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation

of free men, we must live through all time

or die by suicide.

These hopeful, yet troubling words, were quoted by Ken Burns in his recent address to the graduating class at Brandeis University. Burns continued his speech by addressing the concerns at the heart of our fragile democracy. In our contemporary culture “Everything is either right or wrong,” he stated, “red state or blue state, young or old, gay or straight, rich or poor, Palestinian or Israeli, my way of thinking or the highway.” It seems, according to Burns, that we live in a country where there is no middle ground, no shades of gray, no compromise on the issues.

Ken Burns Address, Brandeis University, May 2024

I have listened to Burns’ speech a number of times. It is electrifying. He is a brilliant filmmaker, an insightful interpreter of human nature, and an astute American historian. But I pray he is wrong. 

Is there hope for our deeply polarized country? I believe there is. Our greatest strength as a nation can be found in our national motto, “E pluribus unum,” Out of many, one. Burns reminds us that there is only us. “There is no them.” He continues, “And whenever someone suggests to you, whomever it may be in your life that there’s a them, run away.” I believe Ken Burns has nailed it. We need more than ever before to see the U.S. as an us country. If we are to survive, there must be no them, only Americans, only us.  

There are some positive signs that people all across the country are becoming aware that our disagreements and differences must not define us. If you had visited Claremore, Oklahoma, during the past week or so, for instance, you would have seen us working together to rebuild parts of the small town that had been decimated by a tornado.

My wife and I were visiting friends in Claremore shortly before the storm hit. The day after we left, a tornado barreled through the neighborhood where we had spent several nights. Giant trees were felled, roofs were blown off, several people lost their lives, and a number of others were severely injured.

Red Cross Helps People Affected By Oklahoma Tornadoes, Flooding in South

Hundreds of people from all over Oklahoma and neighboring states quickly came to offer aid. No doubt there were among these volunteer workers both Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, black and white. One thing is certain, though: there was no them among the helpers, only us.

That’s the America I know and love. An America where we can debate, argue, vote our conscience, abide by the will of the majority, believe in the rule of law, and then get on with our lives—as Americans—together.