Speaking with the “Enemy” – Healthy Conversations Across the Political Divide

Local Focus: Western North Carolina, 10 counties, centered around Brevard, NC

1:1 Conversations across the Political Divide 

Overview

An opportunity to talk with someone outside of your own political group about what  you each believe and want for the country. This is a self-directed, non-facilitated conversation  following a detailed structure. It involves two one-hour conversations in person or via Zoom.  

Goals

✔ More understanding of the experiences, feelings, and beliefs of someone who differs with  you in today’s politically polarized environment.

✔ Discovering any areas of commonality in addition to differences.

Ground Rules

1. We’re here to explain our views and to understand the other person, not to convince the other person to change their mind.
2. We’re here as individuals. Let’s not assume the other person holds any particular views of a political party or political leader—unless they say they do.
3. We’re going to describe our own views and avoid characterizing the views of the other person in terms they don’t use themselves. In other words, no applying our own labels to other person person’s positions (for example, “big government liberal” or “anti-immigrant  conservative”).
4. We’re going stick to the process for each stage of the conversation. Example: if the question is what we each learned about how the other person sees an issue, that’s all we do then even if it means resisting the urge to “correct’ the other person’s obvious mistake! We give each  other permission to gently remind each other if we veer off from the process.
5. Otherwise, it’s standard stuff we all know: taking turns, sharing the air time more or less  evenly, not interrupting, being respectful, etc. In other words, bringing our best selves to the  conversation.

** This event is open to the media upon approval. Media contact: Ciaran O’Connor, ciaran@braverangels.org