What Minneapolis Can Teach Us on How to Actively Be Transpartisan

Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength.

~ President Trump

Writing this Monday, January 26th, President Trump and Governor Walz finally had a productive conversation. 

We’ve watched the escalation build for weeks. The day before Alex Jeffrey Pretti was shot and killed, Jacob was on the phone with a Minnesota public servant talking through strategies to deescalate the situation in Minneapolis. And now this latest tragic killing of Alex over the weekend is perhaps a turning of the tide.

The questions that we raise are not about policy. There are legitimate policy and legal positions on both sides of immigration. 

What we want the bridging, transpartisan, community renewal, and pro-democracy fields to grapple with, is what can we do to meet the moment, to have a third way? When the next Minneapolis-like event comes, or for that matter any number of political and natural disasters, how can we make sure we are collectively prepared to respond?

Based on the conversations we've had and the reading we've done, here are five lessons we can all carry forward:

In tense moments, the standard must be law enforcement conduct that lowers tensions. There are so many tested law-enforcement deescalation tools that save lives. We should use them. 

There must be collaboration or at least coordination, even between seeming enemies, at the local, state, and federal levels to develop and implement a joint deescalation plan. 

The standard for residents participating in pushing back against ICE involvement should also be conduct that makes the humanity of participating community members undeniable and deescalates the situation. This is through disciplined, coordinated, peaceful and lawful nonviolent direct action. 

We must create on-ramps for all people to feel included in the path forward. This can be done by changing the narrative that enforces the dichotomy of immigration enforcement versus upholding our fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution to one where both can be true at the same time. 

We must support and expand longstanding civic infrastructure that can respond to community crises. 

Let’s focus on point five as it relates to the broader strokes of our country. Both political parties deploy a zero-sum win at all costs strategy that seeks to overpower the other side. We see political swings back and forth and these swings feel like they are getting wider. What they have in common is a move toward over-centralization, which we know from world history can lead to calamitous effects. 

But “win” strategies are temporary. They leave large segments of the population feeling that they’ve lost power. These “win” strategies incentivize an isolated sense of belonging within a tribe rather than as a whole. Because they don’t legitimately include the perspectives of all Americans in a productive way, they cannot rapidly meet the basic needs of Americans or provide fair opportunity. 

This is why we need new ways to bring the whole of American society along to uphold civic health and democracy. The best way to do that is through civic infrastructure that is responsive to people’s needs in their communities.

In short, the project of building responsive civic infrastructure is critical to keep building. We need to expand and support a structure that can quickly surface the tensions in our communities and allow them to be transformed into healthy dialogue and action. Institutional democracy, it seems, is profoundly unsuited for that task by itself.

The shooting of Alex Pretti was hopefully a moment of near collective clarity. But throughout its history, the U.S. lurches from one tragedy to another, from one extreme to another, in search of these moments of clarity. It has no other means of surfacing its unmet emotions. We need to build out the mechanism of collective expression - participatory and deliberative democracy, and the civic infrastructure required to facilitate meaningful engagement in communities.

The tools we are promoting – connecting with our local community, mutual aid, collaborative problem solving, local organizing, crisis response – are the foundations of a long-term approach. 

But they can’t be a flash in the pan that goes away after a campaign. They have to be seen as the basis of something permanent - something that changes forever how we see and interact with our neighbors. 

The tense and life-threatening crisis isn’t over in Minneapolis, and many of the lessons learned haven’t been instituted. We need to continue to push toward having an America where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, where we can rely on our institutions and the law, and where we as a people can work together to build a better future.

Here are some of the quotes that resonated most for us from thought leaders from philanthropy, a transpartisan partner, a conservative think tank, faith leaders, and business. We hope you find these insightful:

We can have strong enforcement of our immigration laws and still follow due process. We can have strong enforcement of our immigration laws and uphold people’s civil rights. We can have strong enforcement of our immigration laws in ways that don’t scare American citizens and law-abiding immigrants so much that they feel they can’t safely go to work or school or get groceries. 

   ~ Jen Ford Reedy, President at Bush Foundation (full statement here)

The real story is about the Minnesotans who refuse to respond with fear or fury. People who are showing up with love of community, neighbor, and country. Ordinary people, community leaders, and institutions stepping forward to peacefully insist on our constitutional rights. They are right now modeling not just the best of Minnesota, but the best of America.

~ Tonya Allen, President, McKnight Foundation (full statement here)

What we see in Minneapolis right now is a harsh but true reflection of us as a people. Intense conflict requires an equal force in response to be resolved; and that force can take very different forms. It can be domination (power and control) or connection (patience, perseverance, and perspective).

~ Maury Giles, Braver Angels (full statement here)

Politics has come into play with state and local elected officials having far too much sway over the tactical decision of local law enforcement leaders, and with federal elected officials having far too much sway over the tactical decisions of federal law enforcement leaders. These law enforcement leaders need to meet face to face, without the media, without their elected leaders, to hash out a professional level of coordination and provide for deconfliction. This is basic incident command stuff. 

~ David Zimmer, American Experiment (full statement here)

"We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself."

~ Martin Luther King Jr. (more info on strategic nonviolence here)

The factors driving this crisis are complex, such as our broken immigration system.  But despite profound differences within our communities and our nation more broadly on immigration policy, all of our elected officials share a moral obligation to protect human dignity, preserve civil peace, and reduce the risk that more people will be harmed or even killed before this current crisis ends. We are taking a public leap of faith and urging our federal, state, and local leaders to come together and chart an off-ramp from this crisis. 

~ An Open Letter from Catholic, Evangelical, and Jewish Minnesota Community Leaders (full statement here)

We are calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions.  

~ Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, with more than 60 business signatories (full statement here)

We urge restraint, peace, and respect for every human life.

~ U.S. Catholic Bishops (USCCB) statement after the second killing (full statement here)