Discussion Group Seeks More Light, Less Heat

It was almost like a hockey game where a fight didn’t break out.

Talking politics can be contentious these days, particularly when half the group is liberal and the other half conservative.

But two dozen local citizens took that chance last week at another “Red-Blue Workshop” sponsored by Braver Angels.

And even though no fights broke out, they still attracted national attention – of a sort.

John Burnett, longtime Texas reporter for National Public Radio, and his wife Margaret Justice came to La Grange to see just how people with widely different political views might be able to exchange ideas without animosity.

They were not so much looking for evidence of the increasing polarization of America, Burnett explained, as they were looking for solutions to it. A Braver Angels workshop in rural Texas might point to a solution, he suggested.

Event organizers believe that happened at their first such workshop, held last month at Randolph Recreation Center. Connie Shortes, one of the organizers, said it happened again at the second.

Braver Angels is a national organization begun soon after the 2016 election cycle in an effort to “depolarize” conversations. Leadership includes both Republicans and Democrats.

This “polarization (not only disagreement on issues but personal contempt and distrust) has been growing between us for at least 25 years,” the Braver Angels website asserts. “In other words the vitriol in American politics was a problem long before Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the 2020 election.”

The Red-Blue Workshops bring together equal numbers of self-designated liberals and conservatives for three hours of structured conversation and guided interaction. The goal is not to change minds or convert the other side, but simply learn how to understand each other better.

At the conclusion, participants at the Rec Center said they’d done just that.

“Actually, I was very impressed with the Red team,” said one of the Blues. “I thought you guys were seriously introspective and honest in sharing some of the things you were concerned about in your own party.”

Participants on both sides said they were afraid that their own party was being torn apart by politicians who have taken extreme positions on various issues.

They were equally critical of corruption and self-dealing among politicians more interested in their own re-election than the public good. They also agreed that the media exacerbates the extremes and tends to drive Americans apart rather than bring them together.

“It’s been a good evening,” one said. “We (on both sides) are concerned about pretty much the same issues. We just have different ideas about how to solve them. We can compromise on methods, if we just have the same goal.”

Additional Red-Blue workshops are being planned. For more information on them, contact Braver Angel organizers Arnold Romberg at farssr@ farssr.com or Connie Shortes at cshortes@gmail.com.

If Burnett’s work results in an on-air segment, it will be heard on KUT-FM, 90.5, Austin.