Lately, Natchez seems, at times, as a city determined to disagree about everything.

The issues of raising taxes to build new schools, where to build those schools, how to consolidate city and government services and other issues have all come to a head with public displays of hostility toward different viewpoints.

That is troubling.

But it is also out of character with Natchez and Adams County’s past.

While it may not seem like judging by the present, our community has a history of working together to overcome hurdles to benefit the common good.

Just before International Paper came to Natchez, voters agreed to borrow money to buy land for the new IP mill. Ultimately the bond issue was not necessary because IP leaders opted to pay for the land just to locate in an area in which the community wanted the company’s presence.

Two decades later, leaders such as Charles Evers and former mayor Tony Byrne sat down and talked with one another during the height of the Natchez Civil Rights Movement.

Those conversations were almost certainly not pleasant at times, but were necessary to move the city forward and out of the mire in which it found itself. These men led with civility, not hostility and the results were good and positive.

Natchez must learn from our history, return to civility and a desire to begin working through our differences through conversation, not verbal combat.

That conversation could easily begin with the points on which we all agree, perhaps something as simple as: Natchez is our home and we all want what is best for the community.

If we start with that, swallow our pride and stifle any need to “be heard” first, and turn instead into seeking first to understand the other side, our community will be better.