Why This Matters
We live in a time when disagreement can quickly become division. Political differences, cultural differences, religious differences, and disagreements about identity can make it difficult to remain connected to one another.
I have usually said—that we do not have to be likeminded in order to be like-hearted.
My life has taught me that people do not need to share the same experiences, beliefs, or perspectives to care about one another.
But there is an important line.
Not every disagreement is simply a difference of opinion.
The Difference Between Disagreement and Dehumanization
I often return to the words of James Baldwin, whose writing on race, humanity, and American society remains especially powerful. Baldwin understood that disagreement is possible within relationships, but he also recognized that there are circumstances in which disagreement becomes something much more serious.
We can disagree about politics. We can disagree about religion. We can disagree about education, economics, or public policy.
But when a disagreement is rooted in the denial of another person's humanity, safety, dignity, or right to exist, we have crossed a different line.
That distinction matters.
A healthy society has room for disagreement. In fact, democracy requires it. But disagreement should not require us to accept the dehumanization of our neighbors.
We Don't Have to Think Alike to Care About One Another
Being like-hearted does not mean agreeing on everything.
It means recognizing the humanity of the person standing across from us.
We can have different histories and still listen to one another. We can come from different cultural backgrounds and still build relationships. We can disagree about solutions while sharing a commitment to the wellbeing of our communities.
This is especially important in Indigenous education.
Students need to learn how to navigate difference without losing their sense of identity or their capacity for empathy. Indigenous education should not ask Native students to abandon their culture in order to participate in the larger society. Nor should cultural education teach students that meaningful relationships are possible only with people who share their background.
We can hold onto who we are while learning how to understand other people.
Knowing Where the Line Is
At the same time, there are moments when neutrality is not enough.
Today, many people from communities of color, transgender communities, and other historically marginalized communities are experiencing fear and uncertainty. In those moments, we need to remember that there is a difference between respecting someone's right to hold a different opinion and tolerating the denial of another person's humanity.
Knowing where that line is helps us understand where our relationships stand.
It helps us recognize who we can count on when circumstances become difficult.
And it helps us identify where we need to put our energy to create meaningful change.
What Native American History Can Teach Us About Difference
Native American history offers many examples of what happens when human beings are divided into categories of greater and lesser worth.
Colonization relied not only on military and political power but also on systems that separated people from one another, undermined Indigenous identities, and made it easier to justify the dispossession of Native lands and cultures.
Understanding that history is important because these patterns did not simply disappear.
Learning Native American history means examining how ideas about race, identity, belonging, and power have shaped the United States. It also means recognizing the resilience of Native communities and the importance of maintaining relationships across difference without surrendering cultural identity.
The Ojibwe language and other Indigenous languages are part of that work. Language carries worldview, relationships, history, and identity. When we support Indigenous language revitalization, we are not simply preserving vocabulary. We are creating space for Indigenous people to be fully visible and fully human.
Like-Heartedness Is a Practice
Being like-hearted is not something we achieve once and then forget about.
It is a practice.
It means listening when we would rather argue. It means learning about histories that are not our own. It means recognizing when another person's experience is different from ours. It means standing with people when their humanity is being questioned.
And it means being willing to disagree without turning our neighbors into enemies.
We do not need to erase our differences to build a better society.
We need to learn how to live with difference while protecting the dignity of every person.
We Need Each Other
The world does not need everyone to think alike.
It needs people who are willing to remain human with one another.
There will always be disagreement. There will always be differences in culture, experience, politics, religion, and worldview.
The challenge is learning which differences we can navigate through conversation and which require us to stand up for the dignity and humanity of others.
We do not have to be likeminded.
But we should strive to be like-hearted.
And when someone else's humanity is being denied, that is the moment when we need to hold one another up and work together for change.