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Let’s Keep Things Civil

Ben Voth, director of debate and chair of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, weighs in on how to bring civility back to public discourse.

The public’s approval of politics and U.S. governing institutions is at an all-time low – approaching only 8 percent for Congress. The American public has noticed the increasing lack of civility in discussions among public figures and elected officials, who in turn find themselves besieged by arguments that seem more designed to silence and impugn than to encourage a careful search for the truth. As a debate coach, people often ask me what can be done to improve public debate in America. These are my suggestions:

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Attack The Argument And Not The Person

In the course of disagreement it is easy to merge the words we see or hear with the opponent’s identity and our own. In essence, the argument becomes personal. Our responses should focus upon the arguments and the policies offered by an advocate rather than the personal aspects. Of course, this is easier said than done and often will require ignoring personal attacks that others launch at us. I urge student debaters to begin sentences with words such as, “Your argument is wrong because…” rather than “You are wrong because… .” I specifically tell SMU debaters that when they cross-examine their opponents in debates to look at the judge rather than the opposing team because this reduces their tendency to get angry and impatient with their opponents and disciplines them to the calmer task of persuading the decision maker.
I point to the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 as a great example. Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln electrified the Midwest with their lengthy debates about American politics and the looming concerns over slavery. The passions of the debate easily could have made the men lifelong enemies, but this was not the case. After Lincoln won the presidency in 1860, many thought there would be great controversy at the inauguration. But Douglas was known to have remarked at the event: “I shall be there, and if any man attacks Lincoln, he attacks me, too.” Debate and argument on such a passionate issue as slavery that divided the nation did not diminish the friendship of these famous political rivals, who gave us many of our modern notions about political debate.

Teach And Model Argumentation And Debate

When we model appropriate argument, young people learn and appreciate these well-reasoned disagreements. Unfortunately, speech and debate classes are being taught less and less in high school and college. This past year, the college debate community saw two of its legendary coaches, Northwestern’s Scott Deatherage and Wake Forest’s Ross Smith, leave its ranks to teach high school. Both men had coached many national collegiate championships. Because of their successes, they decided to teach debate among underserved populations of high school students. Similarly, SMU serves the Urban Debate Alliance, which reaches high school students in the Dallas Independent School District who might not be able to receive debate instruction otherwise. Teaching and modeling appropriate argument for our young people demonstrates the proper means for resolving disagreements and also ignites the passion for learning.
This past year SMU took the unusual step of sending its debate squad to Marshall, Texas, to debate on the campus of Wiley College – home of the Hollywood-famous The Great Debaters, immortalized in the film created by Denzel Washington. Mere days after the inauguration of the nation’s first African-American president, two SMU debaters took the stage to argue the question of whether a leader believes “the pen is mightier than the sword.” SMU lost, defending the sword as greater than the pen, but won a mighty victory in bringing the first public debate in 80 years to Wiley and the first debate with a largely white university in the school’s history. The auditorium was filled with hundreds of African-American college students seeing their first college debate. I remarked to the press, “It’s the best debate we ever lost.”

Idealize The Idealist

Much of the decline in public argument is rooted in Americans’ unfortunate social addiction to cynicism – believing that all public arguments are inherently self-serving and not for the public good. Criticism for criticism’s sake has become too popular. The recent film Invictus shows Nelson Mandela offering a note of inspiration to the captain of the South African rugby team regarding this important problem. Mandela used a quotation from President Teddy Roosevelt – rather than English literature – that would serve the new advocates of our present time well:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; … if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.”
Roosevelt’s admonition about the critic is an important one in understanding how the American public sphere ultimately will be healed of its present incivility. It will be the hard work and sweat of idealists, such as SMU’s student debaters, who are willing to endure the slings and arrows of selfish critics. Each one of us can, however, live and act in accordance with the principles noted here and be a substantial cornerstone in building a better national culture that treasures argument rather than abuses it.

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SMU reinstated its debate program in 2008 through its Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Program in Meadows School of the Arts. At present, 30 students from various academic majors have participated in 12 debate tournaments throughout the United States. They have won numerous individual speaking and team awards.
Ben Voth is director of debate and chair and associate professor of corporate communications and public affairs. He can be reached at bvoth@smu.edu.

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