One Human Family. Way back in the 1990s, Key West resident JT Thompson came up with the concept, creating bumper stickers that he distributed in an effort to unite the people of Key West. In October 2000, the Key West City Commission unanimously adopted One Human Family as Key West’s philosophy. The Monroe County Commission followed suit and adopted the philosophy as well. In September 2002, during my first term as mayor of Marathon, I brought One Human Family to our council, which passed it unanimously as the official philosophy of the city.
In the past couple of decades, the all-volunteer One Human Family Foundation has distributed over 3.4 million free One Human Family bumper stickers and more than 300,000 wristbands around the world. This is a message and philosophy that we as a society need to remember and nurture in these troubling times.
In these days of extreme division and political polarization, we must understand that being separate is an illusion. The whole concept of “us versus them” is a myth. There is no them — there is only us. Political partisans and pundits encourage and revel in the division and discord they foster. Especially in partisan primary elections, candidates often say things and adopt positions that cater to the radical base of the party. Compromise and working together for the greater good are seen as extremely negative qualities when one’s opponent has been demonized and considered evil.
This “us versus them” philosophy has caused so much pain and suffering. Hatred, bigotry, violence, war and needless deaths are the result. It’s because, for whatever reason, we can’t see the humanity in our fellow humans. We assign labels or categories or classes, and use these labels as a way to exclude instead of include. One does not have to look far into human history to see the brutal results: Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Israelis and Palestinians. The atrocities of the Holocaust and Cambodia. The racial strife in America in the 1960s. The U.S. Civil War. The torture and murder of young Matthew Shepard. Russia and Ukraine.
We can do so much better.
Albert Einstein called our separateness an “optical delusion of consciousness.” He offered, “Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Einstein also understood the consequences of continuing our old ways: “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
The proclamation our city council adopted 20 years ago states that, “The City supports the One Human Family philosophy of growing beyond the artificial limitations of racism, nationalism, sexism, classism, prejudice, homophobia and every other illusion used to try to separate people from all being equal.” I don’t believe that there is a better time than right now to reflect upon these words, and try to put them into practice in our daily lives.
After all, isn’t equality an American value that we hold dear and true? From the Declaration of Independence to the 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments to our Constitution to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, our inherent equality is enshrined in the very documents that define the American nation. Along the way, we’ve had growing pains, and there are still struggles that go on today. But for our American republic to succeed, our equality must be celebrated, revered and defended when needed.
So if we hold that we all are created equal, why don’t we figure out how we can work together to create a better city, county, state and nation? This is what builds strong communities and creates bonds among all of us that can’t be broken by bigotry and hatred. We can disagree agreeably, yet still find our common ground as we work together to build a better tomorrow.
— Catch John each Monday at Boondocks, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Key Colony Inn, and Thursdays at Sparky’s Landing. Find his music anywhere you download or stream your music. www.johnbartus.com
