How Students Address Political Differences With Family
Jessica Carpenter
The 2024 election might be over, but for many, the tension of political disagreements is spilling over into the holiday season. A new survey found that 64% of Americans said election-related stress is impacting their holiday plans, and 23% are even considering skipping Thanksgiving altogether.
Obviously, this isn’t ideal if we want to bridge gaps in understanding– especially among family members! We asked some BridgeUSA students how they navigate political disagreements with their family members, and tips they’ve learned from their chapter work on the ground.
For this series, we spoke with anonymous, a former BridgeUSA member at Arizona State University.
Have you ever had a political disagreement with a family member? What was it?
- Yes, many times! Recently, my brother and I disagree on some of President Trump’s cabinet picks, especially his selection of RFK Jr. for the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Trump re-election as a whole.
How did you navigate this disagreement?
First and foremost, I try to remember that my brother is a good person and wants the world to be a happy and healthy place, he just has a different way of getting there than I do. That can help reduce the tension that I feel when I remember that my brother isn’t a “super villain”. Secondly, my brother and I have a healthy relationship that allows for us to discuss these differences and even poke fun at them from time to time. We’ve arrived to this place by assuming good intent in each other, asking a lot of questions from a place of curiosity, and learning that we will not always agree 100% and that’s okay. If things get spicy, which they can, we always try to end the argument by saying, “I know you’re not a bad person/have bad intent, I don’t think I understand this fully, but I can see why you believe this is the best thing to happen.”
The other thing that has been helpful for us is to poke fun on some of those light hearted disagreements. For example, we disagree on the benefits of drinking raw milk. He loves it, I think it can be dangerous. So, every now and then, we will send each other memes related to drinking raw milk. It can get pretty funny at times. Recently, we both have shared some laughs at the recent pic of RFK Jr. eating McDonald’s on President Trump’s jet.
How has your experience at Bridge helped you learn to navigate disagreements with family members and peers?
- BridgeUSA has helped me navigate these differences tremendously. I use the 4 Norms of Discussion in almost every discussion that I have with my family about politics, social issues, etc. I don’t state them out loud, but they are boundaries that I set with how I am going to conduct myself in a discussion and use as a litmus test for how long I will engage in a conversation. The other thing that I’ve learned is that people can disagree with me and not be “bad” people. They may have a very different way of looking at that topic. That provokes me to be more curious about their perspective.
What advice do you have for navigating political disagreements with family members this holiday season?
- Go into conversations assuming good intent. I’m not saying that this is the easiest thing to do, but if you go in assuming bad intent/malice, it’s going to be much harder to navigate a disagreement. Set your own boundaries of what topics you are willing to discuss and which ones you’re not willing to discuss. Meaning, if you hear people discussing topic x and you don’t want to discuss it or it feels too personal to you, then find something else to do. It won’t always be easy, but I tend to enjoy family gatherings a whole lot more when I don’t attend every discussion I get invited to. Lastly, be open-minded and hear people out and ask more questions then voicing your own opinion. You may just learn something!
Get more tips on navigating political disagreements with your family, here.
