Reading #1 "Common Ground"

March 8, 2022

Chautauqua Dialogues Common Ground Reading #1 for Online Course for Facilitators

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n 1992, fty- ve people died and property damage exceeded $1 billion as a result of riots triggered by the beating of Rodney King. Mr. King, an African American construction worker on parole for robbery, was stopped by Los Angeles police for a routine tra c 3” ID violation and was subsequently brutally beaten by four Los Angeles police o cers. A bystander videotaped the iconic event, which had also been

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March 8, 2022

observed by the police o cer’s supervisor.

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idespread media dissemination of the video led to the con agration that enveloped the second largest city in the United States and led people around the world to reconsider questions of police brutality, racism, and the American social justice system.

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welve years later the victim, Rodney King, uttered what became a famous tag line, “Can’t we all get along?” He did not want to be known as the spark that ignited the devastating riots in Los Angeles, but rather as “the person who threw water on the whole thing.” He said that he wanted to be remembered “as the person who tried to keep peace in this country, that I did my part.

The Chapel of the Good Shepherd also known as the Chapel in the Woods at Chautauqua.

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ery few people have the opportunity to publicly express such a high ideal for a society after su ering so incredibly at its hands. Mr. King’s vision of a better society for us all was not o ered without thought. He recognized that making things better for us all requires energy and determination. He captured the essence of societal transformation when he said, “We’re working through change, but it’s a slow process.” The King incident opened up a national dialogue about civil justice that continues today.

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o discuss nding a “common ground” for social change is not likely to be productive because that thinking denies our culture’s disparate nature and the ingrained individualism represented within it.

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uccess will more likely be realized if we can develop new cultural models for conversation that do not attempt to unite our thoughts but can provide an alternative means to civil discourse, where, as Philosopher Richard Rorty said, “the hope of agreement is never lost so long as the conversation lasts.”

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[i ] James W. Carey, Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society(New York: Routledge, 1992), 69 [ii]Carey, Communication as Culture, 69.

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ivil discourse does not seek universal truth but instead a universal society composed of “persons whose paths through life have fallen together, united by civility rather than a common goal, much less a common ground.”[ii] We, as a nation, must keep the conversation going as well as nd new ways to listen to one another and make our conversations more meaningful.

March 8, 2022

“Common Ground” Adapted from "Transformation Through Dialogue" by Roger Doebke

The rst in a series of readings designed to start you thinking about various issues that press directly on how we can facilitate civil discourse.

Roger Doebke

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