East investigates the plunder of cambodias forests. One aljazeera. America seems more disunited than at any point in recent history in politics undermines bipartisan divisions consensus on almost anything impossible to achieve so whats tweaking the policies that once held this huge democracy together where could that historically in the 1st of 2 special reports of apes at least has been to investigate. America today is a house divided now by slavery which Abraham Lincoln warned would lead to the u. S. Civil war of the 160 s. But by toxic partisanship between democrats and republicans the nations 2 main parties im angry at democrats because of what they do to our country right now we have people in congress that hate our country. We have a president who intentionally purposely trying to go boy a dog loved by the cold always scared by our agenda republicans have become complicit in bringing down the character of the United StatesPresident Trump keeps just fooling knowing it that character and our republican friends they just shrug their shoulders. Partisan rancor has worsened since the release this year of special counsel robert mothers report on his investigation of President Trump and russian interference in the 2016 president ial race appreciate very much what mr muller did for the country. I have read most of the report for me. It is republicans believe that the mother report cleared trump the real scandal they claim is that the f. B. I. Spied on his campaign has the f. B. I. Ever launched a counterintelligence investigation of another president that youre aware of not to my knowledge thats the real crisis here if this can go on to the United States of america we dont have a democracy anymore democrats counter that mullers report provides ample evidence that the president obstructed justice and committed other misdeeds that warrant is impeachment we took an oath to protect and serve the constitution of the United States of america and the way we do that is we began impeachment proceedings now. Each side is so convinced that they are absolutely correct that they are morally. And truly correct that the other side is dangerous liana mason is a professor at the university of maryland a recent book on civil agreement examines why partisan polarization in incivility are so extreme now in the United States trump isnt the cause of a lot of the discord that were seeing he probably makes it worse but but one of the things he has done is actually to bring out into the open these divides that have been accumulating between the parties so you argue that the democrats and republicans represent 2 mega identities today weve seen a process of what i call social sorting and what that means is that basically between the 1960 s. And now the parties have grown more socially distinct from each other their public and party has become largely White Christian rural somewhat more male and the Democratic Party is sort of everyone else and so it starts to feel like every election isnt just about our parties competing its about our racial groups and our religious groups and our geographical groups and if you lose its not just your party that lost its all the things that make up your individual identity all the groups that you feel attached to its almost like theyve all lost to this sorting of people into 2 political camps fuel stereotyping and distrust in the 2018 poll by nielsen 70 percent of republicans and 60 percent of democrats agreed that the opposing party is a serious threat to the United States as we become more socially distinct as partisans its a lot easier to dehumanised the other groups and so we start to think of the other side as not only opponents but actually enemies and dangerous why is the rise of partisan mega identities a threat to democratic norms but the constitution wasnt written for parties if you care only about whether your party wins or loses and you care about nothing else then there is no. Running there is no accountability theres no impeachment the only thing that matters is beating the other side and being winners again. In order to investigate Political Division in the us what americans think about toxic partisanship and where its taking the country we headed to North Carolina the state is a hotbed of partisan conflict North Carolina is ground 0 when it comes to polarization and thats been true for decades now Rob Christiansen is a political author and reporter and worked at the rally news and observer for 45 years the problem trying to figure out the state of the strategists is that the states not one thing its many things that has a little bit of alabama in it state has a little bit of Silicon Valley in it state has a little bit of berkeley in it the state has little bit of harlem in it i mean its a really interesting mix and a very volatile mix in 2020 the Republican National convention will be held in North Carolina underscoring the states importance in the president ial race North Carolina has been very very close and almost every president ial election in recent decades barack obama carried north talented 1008. 00 but it was a small slaughter of any state kerry and so the closeness of races in both parties think they can win it one day were going to win the great state of north care. 2016 donald trump campaigned hard in North Carolina and won it by 3 and a half points donald trump was in part a backlash against barack obama i think it was just total shock and an acceptance by some substantial minority of the population to see a black man as president states in 2007 whites in the us were just as likely to identify with democrats as republicans who bites fled the party during obamas presidency by 2016 there was a difference of 15 Percentage Points do you think race is at the core of polarization in North Carolina and the nation as a whole race is certainly. A very very powerful issue we havent yet come to grips with North Carolina played an Important Role in the American Civil Rights movement in 1964 africanamerican College Students in greensboro sat down in a white only lunch counter at worst apartment stored daughter coffee they were arrested sparking a lunch counter sit in that lasted for 6 months so how old were you when you participated in the greens were still i was 19 years old student at binik college and we had just gotten the word that Yvonne Johnson picketed at woolworths and sat at the counter herself she currently serves on the greensboro city council. When the 4 gas set out here we were so excited that it was an opportunity to get rid of some of that injustice that we had been experiencing all our lives what was life like for africanamericans here in North Carolina in 1960 im the product of segregated schools there gated waiting rooms colored and white water fountains sydney in the back of the bus so it was it was harmful it was terrible how did the word sit in come to an end it came to a new when the mayor and the powers that be got together and they began to open businesses to africanamericans to restaurants and facilities to and it spread like wildfire this tactic that could work the woodward sit in was a catalyst for a youth led sit in movement that helped create momentum for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the 1965 Voting Rights act moderate democrats led the fight for the legislation setting the stage for the regional sorting between the parties that we see today i do date this back to the mid 1960 s. When the Democratic Party chose to be the party of civil rights that really angered a huge portion of the people who identified as democrats namely white southern democrats the changes a gradual for some people but it helped pull away a lot of conservative democrats into republican for they started voting for people like George Wallace who was a democrat although he ran some point this a 3rd party and then essentially they began crossing over into voting for Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan or down to that this is happening all across the south dividing up along racially polarized lines but you know thats true down. A good example of this racial shift between the parties took place in the north county North Carolina there were once plantations with slaves here and in kinston there is a replica of a confederate gunship in the center of town at the Visitor Center we met up with mike parker the commander of the local chapter of the sons of confederate veterans all of us are descendants of confederate soldiers more manned in the civil war than died in all the other wars weve ever fall put down here it involved almost every same lee and this is one reason i think why in the south the civil war is such a big deal there are about 800 sons of confederate veterans chapters across the American South how big a battle was it here the lines went on for several miles too bloody civil war battles were fought in kinston are you concerned about the divisions in American Society today yes im concerned because it shows a tremendous lack of open mindedness and respect down here is there a racial split between the parties i would say most africanamericans are a service democrats and mahbub ali 2 thirds of white voters are registered as republicans so thats a shift from years past yes do you think that racial tensions got worse as a result of president obama being elected to the presidency its too easy to just say well he was a black man therefore white people didnt like him. There are there are people who just say look we dont want socialism we dont want these huge Government Programs and i think obama also put in you know he constantly seemed to me to play a race car or what race car do you think he played i think he played a card i think he played the blackguard. Do you support president trunk i support him on many things i think his economic policies are sound i think his position on trying to secure our borders is signed on. And parker supported President Trumps response to in august 2017 unite the right rally in Charlottesville Virginia trump acquitted white supremacist organizers of protesters who came to confront but i should be. I think his blame on both sides and i have no doubt about it and you dont have any doubt about it either graue he was organized to protest the removal of a statue of confederate general robert e. Lee violence or rocked it in more than 30 injured when a counter protester dead. But you also had people that were. Very fine people on both sides he wasnt talking about there being good people among the White Supremacy and client there were a lot of other people who were there that were defending that monument who were the good people that were there defending the monument im sure that there were some people who were just history buffs i mean not everybody who thinks a monument should should stay where they are is a racist one doesnt need to be racist in order to. Still be ok with a system that systematically oppresses nonwhite groups. And thats whats affiliated with the Republican Party its not that everyone in the party is a racist its that the party is not interested in addressing any type of systemic racism white voters without a College Degree flock to trump in the 2016 election partisan tensions are heightened by the fact that white americans are expected to become a minority within the next 30 years. Thats a huge factor there is a sense of threat that white americans feel about that and ultimately its going to create a situation in which republican candidates are going to have a much harder time winning elections and so they really have 2 options one is to reach out to racial minorities or to bring the system in fact republican attempts to rig the system are also fueling political anger in North Carolina it started when republicans won both houses of the state legislature in 2010. Guineas. It is the republicans pushed through a new voter id law and redrew election districts in their favor it provoked a fierce backlash the moral monday movement led by the reverend William Barber the 2nd then head of the North Carolina and. Last may reverend barber was back in the state capital supporting teachers who had come to pressure legislators from more Education Funding why did you launch the moral monday movement of the legislature in the 1st 13 days of the getting in 2013 everybody from the teachers to the poor to the sick then they attacked the Voting Rights they knew that voter id would hurt women and students but it was just they wanted to roll back same day registration early voting day to me more 1718 year olds to preregister the vote this was an all out war on the ballot. A legal challenge to the republican voter id law in 2016 federal Appeals Court judges struck it down saying the law was designed to target africanamericans with almost surgical precision we want we want to Voter Suppression and the people found out that even didnt you dont just have to wait until theres an electoral season but this past december north. Carolina republicans passed another voter id law the n. W. A. C. P. And other Voting Rights advocates are challenging it again in court do you think race is at the core of division in America Today that racism is always in play it in this country but the problem is how we talk about racism we tend to talk about racism when Something Like schollers will happen which is a form of ugly vile racism or racism when somebody call somebody ugly name but the racism that is deadly in terms of the Long Term Health of the country its a statement racism to recommit racism people can actually shake your hand look at you never call you to in where but when they sit in office they pass racist Voter Suppression the Republican Senate leader and House Speaker in North Carolina declined our request for interviews nationwide 25 states have made it harder to vote since 201015 passed voter id laws claiming its needed to combat voter fraud democrats say the claims of fraud are an excuse to suppress the vote and have introduced legislation in congress to stop it we heard loud and clear from the American People that they want to be able to get to the ballot box without having to run an Obstacle Course we have this 5050 politics in which elections can really depend on the 1000 votes here and there and both sides have come to believe the electoral system is not legitimate on the republican side its voter fraud and there are quite excited Voter Suppression the drug man is a senior fellow in the Political Reform Program at new america his book breaking the 2 party do loop will be released later this year what i call a do loop is a way of describing a kind of reinforcing feedback loop that keeps getting worse and worse over time and partisan polarization is like that because once the parties distrust each other more which then justifies more and more aggressive actions and the rhetoric in flames upon itself and you get to this point where where that youve created this unbridgeable chasm manipulating the boundaries of. Electoral district to ensure it has a majority of voters favoring a party whats known as gerrymandering also feels partisan distrust gerrymandering which republicans have been particularly aggressive in the last decade creates the sense that whatever the outcome is somebody cheated. In 2018 republican candidates for congress in North Carolina got 50. 39 percent of the vote but 110th of the states 13 congressional seats last march the u. S. Supreme court heard a case challenging republican gerrymandering in the state republicans in North Carolina maps to create safe seats so they could ignore the will of the people but in june the courts republican appointed a majority ruled against the effort to rein in partisan gerrymandering every indicates shows america to be the least well functioning democracy of any established democracy Andrew Rannells a professor at the university of North Carolina helped develop the standards used to measure election quality around the world they using computerized maps to literally draw lines around. One way streets and an tiny little houses in farm country you can pick out every house you want to be in a district what youre doing is youre just