On this Halloween, there’s no masking the truth: When it comes to vaccine mandates, our country is at an impasse.
There are passionately held convictions on both sides of the issue. Some who are refusing vaccination claim that mandates violate their civil liberties. They don’t see COVID-19 as a threat. Or they distrust the vaccines (and the institutions behind them), raising concerns about potential side effects. The vaccinated among us think that mandates further civil liberties by protecting public health — and particularly, the health of vulnerable populations like older adults and communities of color, hit hard by the disease.
The impasse brings to mind Laurence Tribe’s 1990 book, “Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes.” Tribe wrote about the questions raised by abortion and the entrenched views of people on both sides of the debate. He wondered if the conflict was resolvable, given the absence of mutual understanding. Thirty years later, we know the answer.
For a career mediator like me, it’s hard to admit that there are issues for which we can’t seem to find a shred of common ground. Along with abortion, we are at an impasse on gun control. Did we ever imagine, after the Sandy Hook school shooting, that we couldn’t pass broad gun safety measures? The immigration issue seems unresolvable, too — even as illegal border crossings have soared to a record high.
Now we have another “clash of absolutes” on our hands, in the form of vaccine mandates. The sides have dug in, as we’re seeing across the country.
• About 4,500 Chicago police officers — one-third of the force — didn’t comply with a city requirement to report their vaccination status by Oct. 15, risking their pay. Officers are required to be fully vaccinated by year-end. Some worry that the mandate could leave the force “dangerously depleted” in a city that has seen a dramatic rise in violent crimes this year.
• Southwest Airlines was recently crippled by a surge of flight cancellations — 2,000 in all — which the airline attributed to weather and air traffic control challenges in Florida. There was speculation that a pilot “sickout” was a contributing factor. Southwest had just announced a vaccine mandate, requiring that employees be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8 or risk losing their job.
• Brooklyn Nets basketball star Kyrie Irving has been unable to play because of his defiance of New York City’s vaccine mandate. Irving told ESPN he fully understands the ramifications of his decision but wants to be respected for it. Irving still hopes to return and play for the team this season.
• An In-N-Out restaurant located in San Francisco was temporarily shut down because it wouldn’t comply with the city’s mandate to check people’s coronavirus vaccine status. The company described the requirement as unreasonable, invasive, discriminatory and unsafe to enforce. The business is now complying with the city’s health order by limiting service to takeout and outdoor dining. On Tuesday, health officials in Contra Costa County shut down an In-N-Out in Pleasant Hill after it ignored warnings to verify the vaccination status of customers who wanted to dine indoors.
• The San Diego Unified School District has joined other school districts across California in announcing a mandatory vaccination policy for students ages 16 and older, with a Dec. 20 deadline. Students who don’t comply can enroll in SDUSD’s virtual learning program. In response to the mandate, some parents pulled their kids out of school earlier this month.
While I don’t know what the next “clash of absolutes” will be, it sure feels inevitable. The real question to answer now is how we can stop the downward spiral that is deepening divisions and polarization in our country. We can start by seeking out individuals with differing perspectives (rather than avoiding them, as we are apt to do) and then listening to what they have to say with an open mind. Next, we need to be empathetic, rather than judgmental, to gain understanding — and then use that understanding to guide our actions. And finally, we can’t abandon the search for common ground.
For many of us, that sounds like a lot of hard work. And it is. The alternative is turning to the court system in search of legal solutions. Already, a 16-year-old Scripps Ranch High School junior and her parents have sued San Diego Unified, stating that her religious beliefs prohibit her from getting the vaccine.
It’s hard to imagine where the lawsuits will end. But the decisions they yield won’t matter one bit at the household level, where families are soon to grapple with this year’s Thanksgiving dilemma: Who gets invited for Thanksgiving dinner and who doesn’t? Do the unvaccinated have to wear masks? Or do the vaccinated not get invited, to avoid their righteous indignation?
Our national impasse is beginning to hit very close to home.
Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com.
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October 31, 2021 at 07:00PM
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