Winning Frenemies: Engaging People Who Have Opposing Views
Written by Allie Boman
Note: This blog series is written especially for public health practitioners, serving at all levels. I hope it will also be relevant for other types of leaders and public servants.
Photo by Resume Genius
The Current Reality
Public health is under fire, both literally and figuratively. Yesterday, an activist was killed in what seems to have been a politically motivated shooting. Just a month ago, an angry citizen opened fire on the CDC. And during this month 24 years ago, ideologically motivated hijackers destroyed thousands of lives in New York City.
Many public health leaders feel under attack, even if they haven’t been exposed to violence directly. The polarization in the United States has lumped public health advice with political ideology, so that many aspects of standard guidance are received as politically motivated.
Last week, I attended and presented at the Illinois Public Health Association’s annual conference. A repeated refrain was the challenge of getting information out about vaccines—it wasn’t a question of whether angry arguments would arise, it was how to deal with the arguments that would certainly ensue.
As human beings, when we are under attack, we naturally adopt a defensive posture. But staying in defense mode when we are trying to serve our communities will render us stuck and ineffective. We close ourselves off and push people away when we think we are not safe with them.
A Thought Experiment
To understand what this is like, engage in a thought experiment with me:
At the local level, our communities are saturated with the smoke of national political battles, making it hard to speak and be heard clearly.
Imagine you are walking through your town, with the haze of this battlefield smoke clouding your vision. You see a figure coming near. You can’t see the texture of their hair or the color of their jacket. But it looks like they’re carrying something in their arms. It could be a child, even.
Rapidly, your mind scrambles to think who this could be—are they friend or foe? Will they attack me if I get near? Do they want my help? If they realize which side of the battle I’m on, will they reject my help?
What if, instead of acting on these racing thoughts, our feet raced to the figure and the child to see what help they might need. Many of us would do this, as medics do on a battlefield, bravely.
If we peer through the haze of our community’s anger and angst, we can see real people with real health needs. We can remember that even if they wear the colors of “the other side,” or affirm the ideology of the other side, they are still people. If we are in public service, we are still commissioned to serve them.
For some of us, this analogy is a bit overdramatic. For others, your reality is quite like this, or has been in certain days and months. For many, the pandemic was characterized by this smoky haze, and your lungs are still seared. Your voice is still croaky from breathing in the smoke during that time.
Photo by Spruce
Restoring Our Voice
Is it possible to restore our voice as public health leaders?
You may say, “I am speaking just fine, it’s the people listening who have the problem!” But this belies a common communication myth. The myth is that communication is speaking, writing, or showing images. But in truth, communication is the sum of (1) what is said and (2) what message is received. So if people don’t understand what you’re saying, it’s on you to find a new way.
Is this fair? No. Is it frustrating to communicate through such haze and possibly through direct attacks? Yes, it is deeply frustrating, fatiguing, and sometimes dangerous. There’s no getting around that.
Creating New Pathways
So we have to decide: are we going to keep serving the public good? If yes, then we need to create new pathways for communication. We need to keep trying until we find a way to be heard effectively.
If you take just one thing with you, take this: new pathways are possible. Being both heard and understood is possible. We don’t have to wait for the world to find its sanity before our communities will listen to us.
And here’s a preview: only those who listen well will be listened to.
If you are a part of a public health organization that would like advice on how to effectively communicate to polarized audiences, feel free to get in touch.