In a recent WTOP article, co-directors from the Intergroup Dialogue Center Jazmin Pichardo and Carlton Green discuss how individuals with contrasting beliefs and perspectives can still find harmony, even in today’s polarized climate. They both agree that while disagreements may be inevitable, understanding and productive dialogue remain possible.
Pichardo and Green offer actionable steps anynoe can use to promote civility in personal, community or professional relationships, including listening with empathy, focusing on values and finding common ground.
“Let’s talk about what is the underlying value that is animating and informing this worldview,” Pichardo says. “If we can find some common ground there, that actually can allow us to shift the conversation so that we enter a place of, ‘Well, here’s where we’re mutually invested.’ And then we can talk about the particularities and sometimes even the politics around it.”
