Mayor Donna Deegan and 230 Republican, Democratic and Independent mayors across the United States have signed a declaration to de-escalate our politics and reject violence and dehumanizing rhetoric. Titled the Oklahoma City Declaration, the agreement was first unveiled at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, the site of the deadliest act of domestic political violence in living memory, as leadership of the U.S. Conference of Mayors gathered in the city for their annual fall meeting.
“We work together despite being registered with different political parties, or with no political party at all. We embrace our shared experience as mayors, as humans, and as Americans,” the mayors write. “With this declaration, we reject political violence and recommit to the American experiment.”
In the ten-point declaration, the mayors celebrate America’s democracy as “an outlier in human history” and an “alternative to political violence” that has “unleashed unprecedented freedom, prosperity and innovation upon the entire world.” However, they also acknowledge that it requires respect for the diversity of backgrounds and beliefs that make our country unique, as well as a commitment to compromise and constructive debate. Without it, our form of government drifts toward dehumanization and, ultimately, violence.
Mayor Deegan and fellow mayors condemn violence, defend civility, reject dehumanizing language, refuse to demonize groups, and vow to avoid fearmongering. They promise to defend the truth and celebrate restraint. Together, they underscore everyone’s shared humanity, saying “we are humans first, Americans second, and partisans last.”
“At some point we have to start seeing each other’s humanity,” said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. “I know these are difficult times, but even in our passionate disagreements we won’t find our way back with hate for each other. Let’s choose love over fear. It has never been more important than it is now.”
Download the full text of the Oklahoma City Declaration with a complete list of signatories.