KENOSHA, Wis. — As the 2024 presidential election nears, hotly debated political topics will become increasingly heated.
Milwaukee is also now less than one year away from hosting the Republican National Convention. Topics such as guns, abortion, racial inequities and LGBTQIA rights have long been polarizing in America.
Some colleges in Wisconsin already have initiatives in place to help their campus community talk about these topics respectfully with one another.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has a Civic Dialogues class that looks at the idea of depolarization. Carthage College has branches of two separate, but similar national depolarization organizations: Braver Angels and Bridge USA.
“In a space where people with different political views can’t even speak to each other, I question how we’re going to get the best policies possible,” said Tyler Kelly, a senior and co-founder of Carthage College’s Bridge USA chapter. “Here at Carthage, it really excites me when we’re able to hear from people with different thoughts so the best ideas can win.”
Cameron Swallow shares this same passion for depolarization. She is the wife of Carthage College’s president and one of two state coordinators for Braver Angels in Wisconsin.
The national, grassroots organization has a similar mission to Bridge USA, but targets an adult audience. Bridge USA targets a younger audience.
“It means bringing blue America and red America into the same room to remember that we are all human beings together,” she said. “Not that we shouldn’t disagree, but disagree better.”
Both organizations host workshops nationwide to teach people how to engage in political conversations respectfully.
Swallow held up a laminated blue card and laminated red card to illustrate how people would participate in these depolarization workshops.
“You pair them in same color pairs, so two blues together and two reds together,” she said. “In order for them to practice, you make one of them act a part that doesn’t match their color alignment in their heart.”
Both Kelly and Swallow said they hope the idea of depolarization catches on more swiftly in the near future at Carthage College and across the country.
“What I’d really like to see is a club dedicated to having reoccurring depolarization workshops, and that hasn’t quite happened yet,” Swallow said.
“I think just having places on campus where these conversations are happening naturally excites me and I hope to see more of that in the future,” Kelly said.
Kelly also leads Carthage’s College Democrats chapter and is active in the gun violence prevention movement.
Bridge USA held a national tour in April, hosting 11 depolarization workshops nationwide. Braver Angels will host a workshop in Milwaukee on Aug. 21, which is two days before the city hosts the first GOP presidential debate.