While Americans greatly value equality and equal opportunity, we are often confronted with disturbing inequalities: segregation, income disparities, differences in the quality of education, uneven availability of family and social support networks. Responding to these differences with democratic virtues -- like embrace of diversity, empathy, fairness, and respect -- is crucial to our efforts to see American democracy flourish.
Take a few minutes to think about people you don't know whom you encounter in your neighborhood. Is there ever a person holding a sign asking for financial help at the end of the exit ramp or at an intersection in or near your area? How do you respond to someone who appears to be homeless? Consider what you might say to each person you encounter. What might you do if you were your best self? Resolve to do that the next time you see someone new to you.
You might buy drinks and snack/granola bars for delivery persons during their busiest times of the year. You may resolve to introduce yourself to the person who cleans your office and find out where they’re from and if they have family in the area. You might bake something and write a nice thank you note for the waste collectors in your neighborhood. Or you might decide that the next time someone asks you for money, you will stop what you’re doing, turn and face them fully, ask how they’re doing, and ask exactly how much money they’re asking you for. You might then take a minute to decide what amount feels right for you while standing and facing them and seeing as much of them and their story as you can.
We don’t all have the same sense of personal safety, so we won’t all respond to similar situations in the same way. Even so, we recommend remembering that every person you encounter is, first and foremost, another person entitled to the same freedoms and liberties as we enjoy. We recommend responding to each person in a way that embodies your awareness of their inherent dignity, no matter what their outward appearance. And if the first interactions don’t go as you planned, keep experimenting until these interactions with strangers become a bright spot in your day.
— Habib Todd Boerger in Practicing Democracy in Your Neighborhood