The News & Observer hosted its third community event in a series about navigating discussions in the current polarized political sphere in the United States. The event was held Wednesday evening in the Hunt Library, with many attendees from the Triangle area.
Titled “Talking Trump: How to listen and be heard, across the red-blue divide,” the discussion featured five experts from backgrounds including journalism, religion and federal government. The panelists shared their methods of maneuvering and tackling differences between opposing political factions and “bringing togetherness across the red and blue divide.”
Denise Walker, managing director of The News & Observer events division, welcomed the crowd and explained the goal of the series.
“Community Voices was designed as an opportunity to give our community time to come together and discuss hot topics that involve our city, our state, our nation and things that are just top mind concerns that are happening,” Walker said.
Ned Barnett, editorial page editor at The News & Observer, lead the discussion. He spoke about the role disagreements play in the history of the United States and the importance of overcoming them.
“We are not here tonight to argue, or to even agree, but to learn, to listen, to respect,” Barnett said. “The red-blue divide is not only a political concern, it’s a personal one. It concerns not only our campaigns but our personal encounters. It splits not only liberals and conservatives, but coworkers and family members, and even spouses.”
Barnett went on to introduce the panelists and asked them to identify what they think is a key word in this discussion, and why they think it can bridge the divide.
Panelist Saleisha Averhart, a lawyer and co-chair of the nonprofit organization Together We Will NC, was the first to speak. She chose the word “community.”
“When I hear the word ‘community,’ the first thought that crosses my mind is my community and who I can serve to be part of it,”Averhart said. “There’s many reasons for the more recent polarization in politics we’re experiencing, but the one I want to focus on is that a campaign rooted in lack of empathy and common decency won.”
John Peder Zane, a contributing opinion columnist at The News & Observer, spoke after Averhart. His key word was “honesty.”
“Honesty is related to but is not the truth,” Zane said. “I think one of the reason that we have a political divide is because people insist that they possess the truth. The truth is an endpoint. Once you have the truth, there’s no further place to go. Honesty, on the other hand, means this is my best understanding of a problem at this particular moment… It means that you’re open to learning.”
In the second half of the discussion, Barnett asked the panelists to talk about how they choose to get their information and how they approach cable TV and social media.
Leslie Boyd, one of two Democrats on the nine-member Union County School Board, spoke about her experience.
“I grew up in an era where reading the newspaper and listening to the news was not something that I wanted to do, but was something that my parents made me do.” Boyd said. “I actually read the paper and it was real facts and I could deduce my own opinions… Fast forward to now, and what I find is I have to do more research.”
The panel was concluded with a Q&A session from the audience.
At the end of each month, The News & Observer holds a community event to discuss issues with current relevance. On June 28, they will hold a forum titled “Counted Out: Giving bright, low-income NC students an equal chance.”
More information on this event series can be found on The News & Observer’s Facebook page.
