<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3BORcH_1H2vIGCx00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3BORcH_1H2vIGCx00" width="225" height="303" ><figcaption>After finding the car's smoldering shell in the Bogue Chitto swamp, the FBI issued posters with the headline "Missing" above the photographs of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman.</figcaption></figure>In October, a coalition of civil rights and religious leaders embarked on a bus tour retracing the 1961 Freedom Rides, where clergy and lay, Black and White, young and older people rode interstate buses into the Deep South to challenge deep-seated racial segregation.Joined by descendants of the original Freedom Riders, these new civil rights pilgrims traveled from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans in a two-week, eight-state journey to encourage voting in the midterm elections.This new journey made me think of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were murdered during Freedom Summer in 1964 as they attempted to register Black Americans to vote in Mississippi.Chaney, a Black man from Mississippi, and Goodman and Schwerner, two Jewish New Yorkers, joined forces in the fight for voting rights at enormous personal risk. Their partnership reflected a truth that remains relevant today: Lasting social change depends on people from different communities recognizing a shared stake in one another’s dignity and freedom.We are often told that we must choose between strengthening bonds across differences or confronting injustice. Call it social cohesion vs. social justice. It’s presented as a zero-sum game where one is at the expense of the other: Too much focus on sticking together ignores social wrongs, and too much focus on fixing those wrongs will tear us apart.The story of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner exposes that false choice at the heart of much of our public discourse.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=06pRok_1H2vIGCx00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=06pRok_1H2vIGCx00" width="1440" height="1440" ><figcaption>Jenan Mohajir&nbsp; PROVIDED PHOTO</figcaption></figure>Progress was possible because these men — and so many other Civil Rights heroes — honored one another’s identities, built relationships across race, religion and geography and acted together for a common good. They gave their lives in pursuit of a better America.For those of us working at the intersection of civic engagement, faith and democracy, the challenge is not choosing between social justice and social cohesion. The challenge is advancing both. That is the promise of pluralism.Pluralism is more than diversity. Diversity is a demographic fact; pluralism is the practice of building relationships across diversity and turning those differences into a source of collective strength. Done well, pluralism does not ask people to ignore inequality or overlook discrimination. It requires us to confront both.One enduring lesson of racial justice movements is that inequities do not disappear simply because people share a space. Diverse institutions can still produce unequal outcomes. Representation, too, matters, but representation alone is not enough.At the same time, transformative change rarely occurs without coalitions that extend beyond any single community. Lasting progress requires people willing to see their futures as intertwined with the futures of others.We see this principle at work in communities across the country. In Minnesota, the Minnesota Council of Churches provides legal services and support for refugees, asylum-seekers and immigrants of all faiths and backgrounds. When federal immigration agents enacted “Operation Metro Surge,” many families were left vulnerable, and the organization mobilized a broad network of support to connect people with legal representation and essential resources.The response did not depend on shared identities or experiences — in fact, everyday Minnesotans were largely advocating for those who were different from themselves. It depended on a shared commitment to the dignity of neighbors. In both the resilience of those served and the solidarity of the wider community, we see how addressing injustice and strengthening social bonds can reinforce one another.Democratic societies depend on more than laws, elections and institutions. They rely on people who can engage across differences, confront injustice without dehumanizing one another and work together toward shared goals.When communities retreat into fear, isolation and mutual suspicion, both social trust and democratic norms suffer. Pluralism offers a different path: one that strengthens civic bonds while creating space to address persistent inequities.The question before us is not whether to pursue social justice or social cohesion. The question is whether we have the courage to pursue both.</div></body>

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In October, a coalition of civil rights and religious leaders embarked on a bus tour retracing the 1961 Freedom Rides, where clergy and lay, Black and White, young and older people rode interstate buses into the Deep South to challenge deep-seated racial segregation. Joined by descendants of the original Freedom...

Guest Column: A pluralistic society needs both justice and cohesion

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In October, a coalition of civil rights and religious leaders embarked on a bus tour retracing the 1961 Freedom Rides, where clergy and lay, Black and Whit

Guest Column: A pluralistic society needs both justice and cohesion

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