As we state above, we need to talk, and keep talking, until somehow the nation forms a bridge of words over the great divides of race, income and identity. The more Americans who talk and then walk over the bridge of words to the other side, the better the chance we have of holding all the parts together.

In 1995, a statue of tennis great Arthur Ashe was planned for erection in Richmond. A proposal to place this statue on Monument Avenue (where it is today) brought a protest from the Atlanta-based Heritage Preservation Association. This group warned against placing a statue of Ashe, a black man, on the avenue previously reserved for Confederate heroes, as it might violate “the historic sensibilities of Richmond’s Confederate-American population.” Seriously. Richmond seems to be getting along pretty well with its mixed-use avenue today, but clearly, that kind of talk bridged no divides.

On a more positive note, some Mathews churches in 1997 initiated and carried on a...