Cross Community Reconciliation

Many cities across the United States are a complex rich mix of racial, ethnic, and religious communities. E Pluribus Unum (“Out of many, one”), a motto on the Great Seal of the United States and adopted by the Continental Congress in June 1782, envisions a republic comprised of many peoples, united as Americans.

Yet historically, the stain of slavery, the Jim Crow era that institutionalized racial discrimination, and displacement and mistreatment of Native Americans during the nation’s westward expansion have had lasting repercussions in minority communities that continue to this day.

Underscoring the capacity of a self-governing constitutional republic to correct historical wrongs, the U.S. government, with public support, has taken necessary steps to advance a more free and just society, including emancipation and the abolition of slavery with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment (1865), Supreme Court rulings that rejected “separate but equal” justifications for discrimination (1954); the Civil Rights movement that led to the landmark Civil Rights Act (1964), and state and federal legislative actions addressing the rights of indigenous peoples.

But laws and restitution cannot by themselves resolve the impact of generational injustice. Neither can it rectify the abuse of power in the enforcement of laws. The healing of history is always complicated, yet the acknowledgment of history is essential, amends must be made, and reconciliation is possible step by step as we work together to build a shared future for our children and our children’s children. Community-driven peacebuilding brings out the humanity, empathy, and compassion needed to come to a resolution.

In partnership with Co-operation Ireland, Global Peace Foundation launched the Cross-Community Engagement (CCE) pilot program in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 2016. The CCE approach in Jersey City, part of the New York metropolitan region, was based on Cooperation Ireland’s thirty-year history of working with Protestant and Catholic communities. The project model was adapted to fit a diverse, urban U.S. context.

Based on the CCE model, GPF USA advanced a transformative project, infused with GPF’s core peacebuilding approach, entitled Cross-Community Reconciliation (CCR), first introduced in October 2019 in Billings, Montana, to bridge divisions, reduce racial discrimination, and increase empathy and understanding in Montana territories that are home to twelve tribal nations. The ongoing project fosters friendships across racial identities and changes perceptions that once stalled collaboration between Native and non-Native groups. The CCR program has also since been launched in Baltimore, Maryland.