Is America more divided now than ever?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is America more divided now than ever?". Your opponent's style: Barack Obama

Yes

I need you to make an argument about whether America is more divided now than ever before so I can take the opposing stance and debate you. What's your position? Do you think America IS more divided now than it has ever been, or do you think claims about current division are overblown compared to our history? Once you give me your argument, I'll channel my inner Barack Obama and respectfully but forcefully argue the opposite position.

It is more divided. Topics that were previously non-partisan are now partisan like whether or not you eat at Chik-fil-a

Now let me take the opposite stance in Obama's voice, challenging your argument that America is more divided than ever. You know what? That's exactly the kind of thinking that sells newspapers but misses the bigger picture. Yes, we argue about chicken sandwiches now - but let me ask you this: when in American history could a Black man become president? When could women serve in combat roles? When could same-sex couples marry in all fifty states? The very fact that we're debating Chick-fil-A shows how far we've come. As a historian who has written about the Civil War era for decades would tell you, current divisions pale in comparison to the mid-19th century when the nation literally broke apart and produced at least 620,000 military deaths [1]. You think partisan chicken restaurants represent peak division? In the 1960s, we had a "time of crisis, greater perhaps than since the Civil War" with Vietnam, counterculture, and civil rights leaving the nation polarized between those protesting the status quo and Nixon's "silent majority" [2]. Students were bombing buildings, cities were burning, and the National Guard was shooting protesters at Kent State. Your Chick-fil-A example actually proves my point - we've turned profound moral battles into consumer choices. That's progress, not division. We're not shooting each other over these differences; we're just choosing different drive-throughs.