“Civility is the bedrock of our free and democratic society,” Tonya Schuitmaker, a former Republican member of the Michigan Senate, told the recent panel on Promoting Civic Discourse - Democratic and Republican politicians on bridging the political divide. Ford School professor Jenna Bednar moderated a conversation between two Republicans, Schuitmaker and Ford School professor and former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, Rusty Hills, and two Democrats, former Michigan State Senator Rebekah Warren and Mark Brewer, former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. Schuitmaker and Warren are the leads of Michiganders for Civic Resilience, a cross-partisan organization "dedicated to fostering civil discourse between all Michiganders no matter their political beliefs." The panel discussed the current political environment, and their experiences engaging with, working with, and befriending those on the other side of the aisle.
“That golden rule, the idea of treating others the way you want to be treated, being respectful, it pays dividends,” said Warren. She told the story of when she went from working in the Michigan House to working in the Michigan Senate. She had chaired the Great Lakes and Environment Committee with Republican Arlan Meekhof as vice chair in the House, and then in the Senate, he became majority leader. On the first day, he talked to Senator Warren about which Senate committee assignments she wanted. His Republican colleagues then “asked him why he was being so nice to this liberal from Ann Arbor. And he said when Rebekah had the gavel and I was her vice chair, she treated me kindly every day. She let our amendments get heard, she let us make our points,” said Warren.
Bednar summarized the advice each panelist gave on how to interact with the other side. From Brewer’s suggestion, she said, “The two words that I am trying to live by right now are curiosity and humility” and then, “As Senator Warren reminds us, read a little bit more and think about your sources.” Adding to that, “Senator Schuitmaker said, remember it’s a human, these are humans that you’re interacting with” and finally from Hill’s advice, “see if you can find some common ground” because “it's very rare that an issue is either black or white,” said Bednar.
What can students do right now? Brewer offered, “Be a model.” He said, “I'm not always successful, but I think it’s important to try.” Warren said the origin story of many elected officials is someone asking them to run, so she said, “Consider yourself asked! If you haven’t thought about it yet, maybe there is a future for you in being part of this.”
