apple store and google play, download free today. your friend wrote seek to washington anytime anywhere. ♪♪ >> you think it's just a community center? it's way more than that. >> 1000 community centers to create wi-fi enabled so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving a front row seat to democracy. >> georgetown university held a conversation about this topic this week with former atlanta mayor, democrat and former south

carolina republican congressman, here's what the twotr of them hd to say about the urban rural divide. urban/rural divide. >> i think the biggest myth to understanding is we are not the enemy. we are not full of criminals and drug addicts and people who wish to wreak havoc on society. i base this upon the way that the city of atlanta is often vilified in the state of georgia. we are a blue city in a red it's often said there's atlanta in there and the rest of georgia it's that big of a divide but the reality is, we care about all the same things, we want big communities, access to healthcare. we want to send our kids to

great schools. i think we have more in common than not but i think that's the biggest conception that these are the enemies and we are takers and not givers. >> think l human nature and to an us versus them. often times, like we were in the green room, it is good-natured. there was a reference to somebody being from up north, somebody -- that somebody from down south in a jocular way. that is not always good-natured, but i think we are kind of a little bit wired, you know, skins versus shirts. the second thing that popped into my mind is, the closer you are to an urban area, the more you get to see what your government can do. and what your tax dollars can do

. the further removed you are from parks, maybe the less you understand why we need our tax dollars to go for a park. the further removed you are from major highway projects, maybe you question. i think the size and scope of government and how people view that. host: picking up on where the former congressman left off, why is there this urban/rural divide? we are getting your thoughts on that. washington university did some research on this topic. this is what they published in 2020. the divide between us, urban/rural political differences rooted in geography. in terms of distance, their analyses show on average republicans 20 miles from a city while independence live 17 miles away and democrats live 12 miles away. the gap was a smaller among racial and ethnic groups and those who have higher education

and higher income. among college degree holders, republicans lived 70 miles from the city, all democrats lived 10 miles from the city. hispanic republicans lived 10 miles from the city while democrats lived seven miles from the city. it was significant enough to be decisive in a closely-contested race. small towns have always leaned conservative. people living in rural areas tend to have traditional values and be resistant to new ideas, said the researcher. in contrast, heavily populated cities have been more open to liberal ideas, more accommodating to unconventional behaviors and beliefs. citydwellers have a greater opportunity to interact with diverse people. there is also the ability to be anonymous, which encourages respect for people's privacy. one might come to the conclusion that people choose to live in urban or rural communities based

on their values and political beliefs. research suggests a small share of movers consider political factors directly in their decision-making process. it's turned to timothy in crystal lake, illinois. an urban resident. what do you think because this divide? caller: i think that sums it up. if you are in a bigger population centers you are around more different kinds of people, you are around -- the difference between poor and rich. if you are in a rural area most people seem on the same level. you don't see why you need government help. in a city you see homeless people who are begging by skyscrapers and fancy condos, and it gets you thinking, you know? you start thinking, we need some changes here. you get people with science backgrounds, or education.

the concentration, there is more happening. sorry, i guess, life. i guess that is what i would say. host: what do you think the curious? how would you bridge the divide? caller: i think internet is a big thing. in the old days we did not have radio, we did not have tv. increasingly our elections are nationalized. people are more aware they are in rural areas. or internet, more education, probably. host: mark in westwood, new jersey in the suburbs. good morning. what do you say? caller: good morning. i lived in the suburbs of new york city my whole life. i think the difference comes down to education. the pay very high taxes here, probably the highest in the country, but we have the best

schools. in the rural areas all they care about, it seems, politically, is, don't raise my taxes. they elect politicians who don't raise taxes so there is no money to pay for good schools and different services. it is a race to the bottom, in my view. just being able to keep as many guns as you want and not having great schools is a recipe for disaster, and i think that is what this country is going toward. if you look at every big city, they are always blue and they always fund education well, or most of the time. i may be in a bubble going up near new york city, but what i see in the rural areas of this country, the movement to support trump, i think it is really troubling.

i think the united states is going into a fascist government, almost, and i am really hoping we can do something and the republican party stops its craziness. host: let's hear from a rural resident. cornell from new jersey. go ahead. caller: good morning, greta. happy mother's day. the problem is redlining. redlining and desegregation. before desegregation and the urban communities you had your doctors, your lawyers, your people of higher learning was next-door to your sanitation worker, your labor, but redlining was a big factor also.

you could have the same credit score even in certain areas today, and because of redlining you are not allowed to move in certain communities. so, systematic racism is the root of the problem. but you live next door to the lawyers and doctors, they kept the community up. it was more family-oriented. but even though segregation was a crime, but in other areas segregation kind of destroyed our community. host: cornell, i want to get your reaction to this piece in npr. americans are fleeing to places where political views match their own. the national real estate brokerage estimated that in 2022 people will vote with their feet . it has actually been happening

for some time. residents have been fleeing states like california, with expensive taxes and mask mandates, and heading to conservative strongholds. more than one of every 10 people moving to texas during the pandemic was from california, according to the texas real estate research center. most came from southern california. florida was the second-biggest contributor of new texans. cornell? caller: well, people are fleeing because of fear, but the bottom line is, there would not be no fear if we did not have the electoral college. it would not be no fear. one man, one vote, and also all of the voting laws put in place to, kind of, well the vote.

the reason why you had the most people voting in the last election -- it was not because the election was rigged. it was because it was easier for people to vote. people did not have to wait seven and eight hours in line to vote. even now the republicans cannot win an election, have not won the popular vote since i can remember. host: so you blame the electoral college? caller: no doubt. host: ok. you're breaking up a little bit so i'm going to move on to glenn in lakeland, florida. you're in an urban area. the urban/rural divide, what causes it and how does it impact you? caller: he was the thing. the divide has always been a divide. there has never been any unity at all between white and black people. that is something that has been going on since this nation was

founded. you talk about the politics, you talk about voting and where you live. it is all about white people and black people, and white people don't like black people. and white people are racist toward like people. host: all white people across the board? caller: no, and here is why i say that. when you look at the way that white people are racist toward black folk, white people do not support black people and they don't do anything to help. we have changes over the years. we have had 400 years of slavery, we have had 100 years of jim crowe, we're have had no equality, there is no attempt to make it work. the reason why black people live in urban areas is because when slavery ended and during the jim crow era and went from being sharecroppers working in the field to get the good jobs in the north.

that is why they populated those areas where black people live. but at the same time systemic racism is still there. my concern has been this. if white people cannot look at themselves and say, we are racist and we have to figure out our problem. like people cannot solve a racist white person's problem. host: glenna, you think this should be a black/white divide, not an urban/rural divide? caller: white people need to look at themselves, because think about how racist white people have been over the centuries toward like people. like people did not harm white people, it is the other way this house agriculture committee runs just ove