Changing our system requires changing our narratives

The election of Donald Trump back to the White House tells us one thing: People think our system is broken. No matter your opinion of Trump or his policies, his election was all about a referendum on the status quo. And the status quo lost.

I expect that we will see a lot of talk in the coming months and years about “changing the system.” The Democrats, through their decisive loss, are already thinking about how they can appeal to the mass of disaffected people across the country through a reinvention of all aspects of our American way of life.

However, even though the Trump administration will have a mandate to change our system, if he wants to be successful—for all Americans—we will first need to shift the narratives that we use to talk about our systems.

Risky investments

Right now, we have a very clear narrative in our society: Some people, and some communities, are a “risky” investment. We think that only certain people are worthy of our investment and consideration.

Who fits into these “risky” groups depends on who you talk to. Many people in the Rust Belt will say that they are not worthy of investment, and their jobs have been shipped overseas. If you talk to people of color in urban areas, they will say they’ve never seen the investment from businesses and government that other places in the country have received.

If we want to change our status quo, we must come together and understand that everyone is worthy of investment, as a part of an economy where those living in U.S. cities are all economically secure, they’re able to build wealth, and they can live abundant, dignified, and connected lives.

We have done this before: We changed the narrative around race during the Civil Rights movement. That movement’s seeds were planted long ago in our nation’s history, and its legacy continues to reverberate to this day. But through that collaborative and coordinated action, we saw as a society that we did not need to be divided based on race and we could be stronger together.

The organization I lead, Living Cities, shifted to a different narrative about 30 years ago, when we—along with major financial institutions and philanthropies—invested in the affordable housing market. We proved that underserved, urban communities across the country were worthy of investment. Through that work, we were able to spur a broad-based investment in affordable housing across the country.

We are all worthy of investment

Now I envision a near future in which we invest in the inherent power of people in cities and communities to lead and organize, invest and build, communicate and govern, for shared and mutual benefit. If we recognize that we are all worthy of investment, by companies, banks, employers, governments, and our fellow Americans, we can change our narrative once again.

I do not know what will come from this shifting narrative, but I do know that a shifting way of thinking will inherently change our system. If we start to see everyone as worthy of investment, we will create a society where all benefit.

We can move from a zero-sum, I-win-you-lose approach to living to one of abundance and thriving. We just have to do it, together.

Joe Scantlebury, JD, is CEO of Living Cities.