We can overcome toxic polarization on Long Island

My name is Herb Lape, a white man in Huntington, retired teacher of government and politics, and I am a conservative.

And my name is Swati Srivastava, a brown woman in Bay Shore, an immigrant filmmaker, and I am a liberal.

Of course, like most Americans, we are far more complex than these labels might suggest.

We hail from different places, and have vastly different upbringings, experiences and political instincts; on paper, we have nothing in common! And yet, we do — the love of our shared country and a deep belief in Americans coming together to solve tough problems.

No problem appears tougher right now than the toxic polarization that has spread from coast to coast like a wildfire — consuming trust, distorting truth and leaving communities bitterly divided. Left unchecked, it threatens the very idea of us as one nation.

That won't happen on our watch.

We serve as co-chairs of the Long Island Alliance of Braver Angels, a national nonpartisan movement working to reduce political polarization by bringing Americans together — not to agree, but to understand each other.

We've been organizing structured conversations, debates, workshops and other events across the North and South Shores, in carefully moderated spaces where people learn to listen, question assumptions and engage across differences without contempt. Getting people in the same room matters.

One effort we are particularly proud of is our Common Ground workshop on immigration, bringing together equal numbers of "Reds" and "Blues" to tackle one of the most contentious issues in American life. The result? Not gridlock, not outrage, but 23 points of consensus.

That work led to something even more remarkable: a joint constituent conversation with CD3 Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), where participants across the political spectrum engaged their representative together, constructively and respectfully.

That's not a thought experiment. That's Long Island.

Now we are expanding this model to additional districts, building relationships with communities and faith leaders. At a time when gerrymandering has left 80-85% of House members in safe districts, Long Island stands out as purple — with three of four representatives in the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. We see this as an opportunity, even a responsibility. We dream that Long Island can lead the way in helping the nation do much-needed legislative reform on immigration.

The road ahead is not easy and requires more than good intentions. It requires what we call "Courageous Citizenship": the willingness to recognize our own confirmation bias, to resist the pull of "FOG" — fear, outrage and grievance — and to develop the capacity to sit, long enough, with people who see the world differently.

Immigration, like many of our challenges, is a "wicked problem." It cannot be solved by one side alone. It demands that we bring our differences to the table — not as obstacles, but as essential pieces of a larger truth. This work requires skill-building, dialogue and collaborative action. Braver Angels provides that forum and framework.

We often hear people say they feel hopeless about the state of our country.

We don't.

We believe this is a moment of profound possibility. A moment when Americans can choose to write a different chapter — one not defined by division, but by courage.

After all, if the two of us — who, by all appearances, have little in common — can build not just common ground but genuine friendship and respect, then maybe the rest of the country can too.

That's not naive. That's the work.

This guest essay reflects the views of Herb Lape and Swati Srivastava, who together lead the Long Island Alliance of Braver Angels.