‘Undivide Us’ screening in Gypsum shows how civil discussion can bring people together
Rocky Mountain PBS/Courtesy image
It seems like the world has devolved into shouting. That’s not true.
Studies show about 20% of people are doing most of the shouting. That’s what’s captured on TV and social media.
Rocky Mountain Public Media has launched the Above the Noise initiative, in partnership with news outlets around Colorado, including the Vail Daily to “create a stronger Colorado media ecosystem amid a threatening landscape of lack of funding, resources, and capacity for these local news outlets across the state.”
Part of that work is screening “Undivide Us,” a film about people with different views meeting and discussing their differences without yelling or finger-pointing. The screenings are an opportunity for people from various walks of life to get together and talk about the tough issues that so often divide us.
The project stopped Tuesday at Colorado Mountain College in Edwards and Thursday at the Gypsum Recreation Center.
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No one’s mind was changed in the film, but people talked, got along, and a few even got together socially after the discussion sessions.
After the screening in Gypsum, those in attendance got together around tables in the rec center’s community room to discuss the film and other topics.
Those discussions were off the record, but before diving in, participants at one table were willing to talk about why they came.
Eric Eves said he came out because of his own struggles with staying above the noise in society.
“Communication is lacking” in today’s world, he said.
Ken Johnson said he was visiting from Texas on a golf trip.
“We’re always looking for interesting things to do, and thought this would be something interesting to attend,” he said.
Gerhard Assenmacher said “If you want to get to know somebody, invite them for dinner … once you get to know the person, it’s different.”
All three were active participants in the post-film discussion.
Tom Edwards was the only elected official to attend the event. Edwards is a longtime member of the Gypsum Town Council, so he’s been in the middle of plenty of noise over the years.
Edwards said he enjoyed the evening particularly when he and one of the participants, who agreed on very little during the discussion, were able to have a pleasant talk at the end of the evening.
“My takeaway is not that we solved a problem, but we proved we could talk to each other,” Edwards said.
Edwards has first-hand experience with trying to bring people together.
In late 2022, the town told Mountain Recreation to remove a Pride flag from the recreation center. At a subsequent Town Council meeting, people on both sides of the issue came to speak.
Edwards, the Mayor Pro Tem, was running the meeting that night, and recalled that people on either side of the issue were on opposite sides of the room. Before the meeting began, Edwards asked everyone to take five minutes to get up and talk to one another.
“The thing that amazed me was it was hard to get them to stop talking to each other — 90% of the people were willing to get along and talk,” Edwards recalled.
The problem, Edwards said, is scaling up those around-the-table discussions beyond just the neighborhood or town level.
But a table is a good place to start.
