Navigating the Holiday Table: Should Politics Be a Side Dish?

The holiday season often conjures images of warmth, joy, and togetherness — a time for cherished traditions, delicious meals, and heartfelt gatherings with loved ones. Yet, amid the festive cheer, a question looms: Should politics be discussed during the holidays?

As conversations blend with the aroma of freshly baked pies and laughter fills the air, the topic of politics can either add depth or spark heated debates around the dinner table. Delving into this inquiry uncovers the complexities of balancing personal beliefs, familial dynamics, and the desire for harmonious celebrations.

During the research portion for this article, I kept finding article titles that alluded to “avoiding” this type of conversation with family. This implies that most don’t want politics in holiday conversations. However, if politically charged conversations are potentially unavoidable, we must understand how to navigate those situations with respect and understanding.

The issue is whether we should limit our conversational categories when we are with friends or family. To fully understand and explore this, we must acknowledge that this type of situation sets the stage for multiple internal conflicts. We are conflicted in many ways but yet, are we willing to endure the long-term family discomfort so that we can express our feelings on a political subject?

The First Amendment to the Constitution allows us full protection to express these ideas, even with opinionated family members. So, we are covered there. Therefore, we must look for societal rules that might help guide us.

A new Quinnipiac poll found that 66% of Americans hope they can avoid talking about politics with family and friends this Thanksgiving. This is a clear signal that most

In a 2019 survey, fewer than one in 10 (8%) welcome and encourage political discussions. About a third of those who try to avoid political discussions over Thanksgiving dinners fail: one in three say that politics is “sometimes” talked about at their family gatherings. Meanwhile, 80 percent of those who try to start political discussions succeed — those discussions (or arguments) are usually part of holiday dinners. For the four in 10 Americans (41%) who neither start nor actively try to avoid political discussions, they say those discussions are mostly bound to happen anyway.

A 2017 poll found that 31% of adults asked “will be intentionally avoiding political conversations with family and friends” over the holidays. Poll respondents said they learned to bite their tongues after years of dinnertime squabbles at holiday gatherings.

Since The First Amendment covers our right to speak our minds during gatherings, we must address the societal rules that were outlined above. After looking at the percentages and answers from those surveyed, it’s clear that almost everyone wants to avoid these conversations, at the behest of those that don’t. Therefore, if this were a nationwide vote, the winning margin to keep politics out of holiday discussions would be overwhelming.

Therefore, let’s establish a few things and then some rules of our own.

We must be vigilant to keep our personal political views out of conversations during the holiday. Yes, we have the freedom to speak our minds, but this is at the risk of causing unneeded conversational pain to others who may be the brunt of us voicing our steadfast beliefs.

Second, most people have resigned to the eventuality of political conversations occurring during gatherings, even though they will look to avoid them if they do.

Therefore, we must create personal rules of conduct to accomplish two things:

1. Keep ourselves from injecting political beliefs.
2. If political conversations arise, we have a framework for the conversation.

Something to consider is to set a time limit so a political subject doesn’t consume your whole event. It might be helpful to make a commitment to yourself to either disengage from political discussions, give yourself a time limit, or have a set of boundary-setting phrases (like, ‘I would rather not talk about this so we can enjoy our time together’),” Feel confident to lean on the fact that you respect the people around you beyond the conversational topic.

If you must find yourself in a circle of conversation that is politically-centered, have some ground rules with yourself. This keeps things in perspective and can help others navigate a typically sensitive subject without hurting any feelings.

Some ground rules:

1. Ask Before Engaging
2. Don’t Enter the Conversation with Judgement
3. Don’t Try to Change Minds, Listen Instead
4. Remember Intention
5. Recognize Emotions
6. Find Places You Agree
7. Be Humble
8. Politics Change, Family Doesn’t

Finally, at the end of the holiday gathering, the hope is to have had as few political conversations as possible, and the ones you did have to be navigated with respect and insight. Ultimately, we attend holiday gatherings to embrace the holiday spirit and deepen the connections we have with those close to us. Therefore, based on all we’ve worked through in this article, if you respect yourself and respect others your holidays will be filled with memories of engagement and understanding.

CITATIONS:

• Talking politics over turkey: How to avoid Thanksgiving food fights (usatoday.com)
• How to Handle Differing Political Views During the Holidays | The Everygirl
• How to talk about politics with family this Thanksgiving — The Hill
• Why You SHOULD Talk about Politics During the Holidays — Ridge Policy Group
• Most Americans avoid talking politics at Thanksgiving | YouGov