Jacob Steeves reporter
Oct. 8, with Thanksgiving coming up very soon, conversations surrounding politics will be the focus at many tables across America. Luckily, the Pitt State Tilford Group and professors Dr. Matt Tarpey, Dr. Chris Childers, and Dr. Troy Comeau held a panel to help with this common awkward experience.
“I’m sure many of us—if not all of us—can remember those awkward conversations at the old family reunion, Thanksgiving dinner, or even on social media, where politics come up,” said Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and History Professor, Dr. Chris Childers. “You might have an opinion and think ‘should I share that?’ and then somebody else chimes in and you think ‘I should share that’ or ‘I shouldn’t.’ How do we have those kinds of conversations in a civil way, in a way that is hopefully productive but also honors the dignity of the people we are communicating with and hopefully our own beliefs.”
The panel focused greatly on how to respect the beliefs of others while also maintaining your own dignity while having difficult, often polarizing conversations.
The panelists also spoke about the role of the mainstream media in polarizing the public and their views on how to have political conversations. “I had a professor when I was an undergraduate, he was talking about journalism and how back then, cable had just gotten big, and ‘these large cable news networks are going to ruin journalism,’” said Director of Media Productions and head of the Communication Department at Pitt State, Dr. Troy Comeau. “I was being taught fair and balanced journalism at the time and I thought, ‘there is no way that is going to happen.’ But he said, ‘when you start getting into cable, what happens is narrowcasting rather than broadcasting.’ Which means, you are going after certain individuals to get ratings, and that’s what’s happening in the mainstream media. They aren’t reporting to inform you; they are reporting to gather ratings.”
Political conversations, while incredibly polarizing, are not nearly as daunting as one might believe. The proliferation of social media has made these conversations more difficult to have.
“I remember, in my house, my parents and grandparents always said, ‘don’t talk about politics,’ so it probably wasn’t discussed as much,” said Comeau. “But with social media, we put things out there that are important to us, that are seen as political, and they start political conversations. These are things that we never would have talked about before.”
The professors also talked about how the “one side or the other” mentality is greatly exaggerated by social media and cable news. In fact, Americans are not nearly as divided as one is inclined to believe. “This polarization has grown over time; there are really no republicans that are more liberal than the most conservative democrat, and vice versa,” said Professor of Political Science, Dr. Matt Tarpey. “The parties have kind of diverged among the elites. You can expect that as an effect, there will be more likelihood to disagree. However, we don’t see that trend as much in the public. If you ask people ten questions, the amount of people that are giving distinctly liberal or distinctly conservative viewpoints is actually kind of small, less than 30% of the public. The most common viewpoint is some kind of mixture.”
The professors also spoke of the history of political polarization and how America has been in a similar place before. Childers spoke about the 1790s, which he called “the first decade where America tried to get off the ground as a nation.” He spoke of how ugly and divided it was, and how our own founding fathers, once friends, became bitter enemies. However, he left those attending with an intriguing quote that can potentially ring true even today.
“Benjamin Franklin, I thought, had one of the best quotes that really summed up the 1790s, and in many ways, can sum up many times in American political history. He said, ‘We’ve proven that we’re really good at overthrowing governments, but can we be governed?’”