Page 375 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

Because of a general bias toward traditional forms of gathering and interacting, the

conveners of the Albany event and two dialogue facilitators in particular were careful to educate

participants about the purpose this series of Community Conversations pointing out the differences

and distinctions between ‘bar talk’, debate and unfocused discussion. Grounding the practice of

having Community Conversations in a way that educated participants about differences in relating,

deliberative dialogue and debate served to position the sessions in the context of research (Gerzon,

2006; Mansbridge, 1999; Walsh, 2007) while lending credibility to the purpose of holding them.

While deliberative theorists assert the need for reciprocity and mutual respect to counter

disagreement in deliberative settings (Gutmann & Thompson, 2004), neither are antidotes to the

emergence of tension, discomfort or disagreement in the course of civic and deliberative dialogue.

While civic dialogue groups gather to discuss issues agreed upon topics they do so with the ideals

of reciprocity and mutual respect from a procedural perspective, invariably however, differences

of opinion tend to create tension. As such, I observed at each of the Albany sessions moments

when there were tense or terse moments that emerged from comments made, stories told, in

addition to the imagery and commentary displayed in scenes from the videos shown and when the

moderator lectured. Outward displays of tension were observed through body language in response

to some of the stories shared. On the sidelines I could see a couple faces grimace during a portion

of the dialogue. During two separate CC meeting sessions, an older participant told of a time when

an area skating rink set aside a certain day of the week for a Black skate. The designated Black

skate night was the “only time people of color could enter the rink”. The second time her story

added that after the Black skate day started a near-by ice cream shop often frequented by patrons

of the skating rink decided it would close on the evening of the Black skate. Her admission

reflected a real life confirmation that past racism existed and how it occurred in the community.

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