Stop calling for unity. Since the 2016 election, and especially following the NFL protests during the national anthem, individuals and organizations on every side of and no side have made statements calling for “unity.”. To be sure, some of those statements are offered with good intentions. Nevertheless, this bland platitude has run its course. “Unity” is rarely the actual goal, rather the word is used as a rhetorical dodge, a way to express an one of three basic sentiments without having to argue its specifics:

  1.  Ignore our problems

    This type of call for unity will make a modest acknowledgement of some kind of difficulty and then will brush it aside with emotional appeals to common heritage. There is no need to address our flaws and disagreements if we just hold hands and remember how much we have in common.

    Example: “The issue of race has been a difficult one in our history, but both sides need to realize that we have more in common than we have differences. We need to come together in unity.”

  2.  Support my cause

    There is also a call for unity that equates a particular cause with common values or common heritage. Typically no evidence to tie that cause to shared history is offered and the cause itself isn’t defended. It’s a bait and switch tactic to encourage the viewer or listener to agree that real unity means supporting me and my cause.

    Example: “Since the founding of our nation, we have been united against foreign threats. That unity is vital now more than ever. We must all stand together.”

  3.  Just shut up

    The third type is really a combination of the prior two, but directed at someone with a message and anyone who might support that message. It’s a call for opposition to that person and the cause by paying no attention to it. Supporting that status quo is taking a position, but by filtering that through a call for unity, one gets to avoid taking solid stance on a topic while still appearing to have taken action.

    Example: <In response to EITHER an explicitly racist or anti-racist statement> “That kind of divisive language is not helpful and is contrary to our shared history. We need to remember our shared values that bring us together.”

Stop calling for unity. By itself, unity is hollow and empty. Standing unified with people who are causing harm causes further harm. And standing together but standing for nothing is a photo op, not an olive branch. Instead of calling for unity, call for what you actually want. Bring people together in common cause to oppose racism and against injustice, not just for the sake of unity. And when others are calling for “unity,” think about which kind of unity they’re asking for.