April Lawson’s “Building Trust Across the Political Divide” — Marianne Zubryckyj 

In her 2021 Sidney-award-winning essay “Building Trust Across the Political Divide,” April Lawson opines that bridges between “Blues” and “Reds” (the author’s terms) can best be built “through structured conflict.”  Ms. Lawson is the founder of “Braver Angels,” an organization that holds debates and workshops to foster understanding among liberals, conservatives and others.

Liberal readers will certainly take exception to some of Ms. Lawson’s ideas.  For example, her list of “forces that used to bring us together” seems based on a white perspective.  Her rather facile characterization of the Blues’ approach to bridge-building as “emotion-forward therapeutic” and the Reds’ as “intellect-forward argument-based” is likewise off-putting. 

Nonetheless, the heart of her message warrants attention:  Working through conflict can restore understanding.  Debates can be a “collective search for truth.”  Ms. Lawson faults both Blues and Reds for simply labeling the other side as emotional, “instead of engaging with their actual arguments or respecting genuine differences of deep beliefs.”

The Braver Angels Debates are, of course, highly structured, and participants must follow a strict set of rules in order to create “a safe place” for all opinions, beliefs and feelings.  Truly successful debates, according to Ms. Lawson, reveal “vast swaths of common ground” on controversial issues like immigration and racial justice.  At the very least, she asserts, the debates restore an awareness of the other side’s beliefs and dignity.  Perhaps Ms. Lawson and her Braver Angels will help inch us all closer together.

The full essay can be found here: Building Trust Across the Political Divide - Comment Magazine