The Divide of Rural & Urban America

Throughout the last 5 weeks of this course, we have intensely taken a look into the role of identity and dignity in regard to the history of politics in our world. More recently in the United States, there has been issues that have begun to arise that have resulted in the rural and urban divide in our country. This divide is not new in America, however, the 2016 Presidential election unfortunately continued to widen the gap even more between urban and rural people of America. It has become apparent that one’s cultural views has become linked with one’s self-identity pertaining politics. Dee Davis mentions in Robert Wuthow’s book, The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Small-Town America, that “Trump’s victory had more to do with culture than policy” (Wuthnow, pg. 2). After reading that statement, one big question had popped in my head. Is the rural/urban divide in the United States more about our self or personal identity than politics? In my essay, I will take a deeper examination into that question and focus on exploring how we as a country can attempt to heal the rural/urban divide in America.

The hostility between rural and urban voters in the United States has become more and more relevant because of each sides difference in perspectives of our country. “Rural communities were racially and culturally isolated while cities were cosmopolitan and diverse. In short, the divide was cultural” (Wuthnow, pg. 2). Rural voters in America are more conservative in terms of political views, and not big fans of diversity. Wuthnow mentions that the more rural Americans he has interviewed and talked with, he quickly learned “how deeply their identity is rooted in their town” (Wuthnow, pg. 6). I believe this shows how much rural Americans value their towns and want to protect the history of their communities. On the other hand, urban Americans include many minorities in our country and tend to have more of a liberal mindset. It is evident how the difference in opinions and beliefs between rural and urban Americans has caused the gap to widen between people.

After looking more and more into the rural/urban divide in our country, I have begun to realize that many of the issues in the United States have come about because of rural and urban Americans own sense of identity within politics. In an article, Kathy Cramer, a political scientist, suggested “that place-based resentment is becoming a sort of identity marker, especially as politicians employ “us versus them” rhetoric” (Olmstead, “The Urban-Rural Divide More Pronounced Than Ever”). I think that the “us vs. them” mentality has started to take over America and has led to the animosity between rural and urban Americans. I have come to the conclusion that there is hostility between rural and urban America because of the fact that there is a lack of understanding between the two groups. One side could care less about the views and perspectives of the other side. Both rural and urban America feel resentment from one another, and the problems involving hate and judgement then begin to evolve. Cultural aspects are important to one’s personal identity because judgement can lead to an emotional response resulting in anger. Wuthnow mentions in his book, “These are the reasons it requires understanding rural communities as collectivities, as places that people call home, to grasp why they react as emotionally as they do often do when they perceive their communities to be threatened” (Wuthnow, pg. 2).

An effort to heal the divide in our country will definitely not be an easy fix. Robert Wuthnow talks about in his book how he has conducted many interviews with rural and urban Americans, and sometimes his interviewees may make comments that he does not necessarily agree with. He makes a very important point that was actually brought up earlier in this class during unit 1. During Wuthnow’s interviews, he was “seeking instead to listen and to understand” when he was doing interviews with people that he did not particularly agree with on views. I believe that this mentality would be a great first step for people in America in an attempt to begin to heal the divide between rural and urban America. There needs to be more of a focus on listening to other’s views and interpretations involving our country even if we may not agree with them.

Earlier during this course, we had read in Evelin Lindner’s book, Honor, Humiliation, and Terror, about how humiliation and dignity has played a large role in our world. For example, specifically US politicians and the media use the method of humiliation as a way to antagonize or insult others. Humiliation methods cause emotions to rise which has largely contributed to broken relationships between groups of people, and also has led to more of a divide in our country between rural and urban Americans. Humiliation, the feeling of being overlooked, and judgement from either side can result in resentment. Linder states, “respecting is not accepting, and understanding is not condoning”. This statement is very significant in an effort to heal the rural/urban divide because if this type of mindset is embraced, then we could begin to see a positive change regarding the rural/urban gap and humanity. One can still be respectful of another person’s views or ideas without having to agree with them. I believe that engaging in respectful dialogue and communication pertains to attentively listening to another viewpoint different from your own, and then responding considerately even if you may not agree with what they had said. To move towards a change in our country, it’s important that we understand and recognize that rural and urban Americans have come from different backgrounds and experiences, and that is just fine.

Robert Wuthnow’s book, The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Small-Town America, has opened my eyes to the issues that have erupted from the urban/rural divide in the United States. This unit was particularly very interesting to me because I felt that it relates to the units from earlier in this class. As I have taken a deeper look into the divide in our country, I believe that self or personal identity plays a major role. Where one claims that they live or reside is just as important as someone’s ethnicity or race to them. Trying to heal the divide between urban and rural America is definitely not an easy task, however, I believe that having more understanding, positive communication, and empathy, can be little steps taken in this healing process.

Sources

Olmstead, Gracy. “The Urban-Rural Divide More Pronounced Than Ever.” The American Conservative, 29 May 2018, www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-urban-rural-divide-more-pronounced-than-ever/.

Wuthnow, Robert. The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Small-Town America. New edition ed., Princeton University Press, 2018. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvc773q2