There is a path to preventing violence that starts with a simple step.

What if people on the left stopped calling people on the right racists, fascists and extremists? What if people on the right stopped calling people on the left scum, communists and lunatics?

It doesn’t mean we don’t stand up for our values or hold each other accountable. It means we make our case with facts — not with labels that can dehumanize.

Years ago, in my role as Chairman of Special Olympics, I led a campaign to end the “R-word.”

A lot of people laughed at us for that. First because they thought it was cosmetic — that words don’t really matter. Second, they laughed because they thought no one would listen.

In fact, people came on board quickly when they learned that the word “retard” increases mistreatment a

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