Choosing Hope Over Dehumanization

A Prohuman perspective on our near-miss with a national tragedy

Free Black Thought

Aug 01, 2024

Soapbox

CHOOSING HOPE OVER DEHUMANIZATION

A Prohuman perspective on our near-miss with a national tragedy

Bion Bartning

On a recent Saturday night my wife and I were in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square with over 10,000 Israelis at a rally in support of the 120 men, women, and children still being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. We heard from several of the former hostages, and from family members of those still being held.

The crowd fell silent when 27-year-old Andrey Kozlov spoke, a Russian-speaking Israeli who was rescued by the Israeli Defense Forces on June 8. We stood listening, overcome with emotion, feeling a mixture of hope, determination, and profound sadness for the terrible injustice and hardship these families are going through.

To wake up the following morning to the news that someone had tried to kill former President Trump crystallized a thought that had been forming in my mind.

On October 7, Israel was attacked by an enemy that celebrates death and martyrdom, and that treats the lives of the people they claim to represent as expendable in service of a political goal.

Hamas’ genocidal intent toward the Jewish people was never a secret. What I saw at the rally is that over 280 days after the hostages were brutally taken from their families, the Israeli people remain committed to the intrinsic value of every life. The amount of energy and love was overwhelming. There were no hateful words spoken. No calls for violence or retribution. Just impassioned pleas for the hostages—fellow citizens—to be brought home now.

The warning I see in the attempted assassination of President Trump on July 13 is that we, in the United States, are at risk of losing sight of our shared humanity and our shared destiny as Americans. There is a lot of resentment and fear right now, on all sides. It’s not surprising that when politicians and media personalities insist that their opponents are an existential threat, violence becomes a real risk.

There are promising signs that our near-miss with a national tragedy has prompted reflection. My hope is that, going forward, we will see more debating of the issues and less hyperbolic fear-mongering. We need a new kind of political discourse in this country that recognizes the importance of civility. We need an end to the now common practice of politicians seeking to win elections and gain power by dehumanizing their opponents.

Abraham Lincoln’s words during his first inaugural address seem more relevant today than ever:

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Daryl Davis, Letitia Kim, and I started the Prohuman Foundation earlier this year because we believe that education is the key to overcoming division and bringing Americans together. We stand firm in our belief that the way forward is for all of us to be guided by the foundational truth that every person is a unique individual united by our shared humanity.

Bion Bartning is co-founder and Board President of the Prohuman Foundation, as well as an entrepreneur and investor. Previously, Bion founded FAIR, the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, and co-founded and led the launch of eos Products, a personal care brand best known today for its iconic egg-shaped lip balm. Bion was also part of American Express’ Strategic Planning Group, where he conceived of and patented a new multi-channel system for booking travel and led the launch of a new consumer online travel business as Director of New Product Development. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School, and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in economics and environmental studies from Occidental College. He lives in Miami with his wife, two children, and their family dog Charlie Brown. He has appeared on the Free Black Thought Podcast in an episode titled, “Just Be Prohuman.” Connect with Bion on LinkedIn here. Follow the Prohuman Foundation on X here. The Prohuman Foundation has a Substack, Prohuman Pathways, where this essay was originally published on July 16.