Throughout history, but particularly during periods of rising authoritarianism, powerful actors and interests have manufactured division to keep communities fighting each other, blame the most vulnerable for social problems, and cast as “dangerous” people and movements who challenge the institutions and systems that keep communities divided. In the United States, “rural-urban divide” is one such narrative. It uses geography as a stand-in for all kinds of difference – replacing the voices, experiences, and visions of communities throughout the country with bland stereotypes: “red” states vs “blue states, “coastal elites,” and so on. Division – and the stories that prop that narrative up – is one of the most powerful tools the opposition can wield.
Adapted from our Rural Urban Unity Framework, this zine equips organizers and advocates with practical tools to build a broader constituency across rural and urban communities.