/ Modified jun 5, 2020 5:33 p.m.

The role of civility in bridging racial divides

A discussion with the National Institute for Civil Discourse's Keith Allred.

The issue of civility has been a recurring topic on Arizona 360 over the years. We asked once again how individuals can help the country heal and bridge racial divides. Our insight came from Keith Allred, executive director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

“A productive and an accurate way to kind of look at those protests is to say, you know, these are folks who are asking us to listen, to listen to their concerns, to listen to our own hearts when we watched that video and the reaction we have to say, ‘Hey, there’s a problem here we need to address,’” Allred said.

Allred discussed how the media can give off the impression that public opinion is more divided than it really is.

“The traditional media, social media, always gives an outsize impression to the extremes. And the extremes talk louder and longer than the rest of us. They post more on social media and so they get more attention,” Allred said.

The institute has programs that promote civility. You can learn more about them here.

Arizona 360
Arizona 360 airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on PBS 6 and Saturdays at 8 p.m. on PBS 6 PLUS. See more from Arizona 360.
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona