FD Signifier on YouTube recently talked about folks flattening complex issues which led us digging into this subject matter and discovering this article, When Political Unity Becomes the Goal, Our Democracy Suffers, by Robert B. Talisse. What Robert writes about reminds me how some people’s concerns and issues get swept aside within the swing dance community because they challenge the image of a unified happy place. Black Lives Matter, women self-reporting predators, swing schools not wanting to discuss their cultural appropriation - all topics that have been labeled politics so oftentimes organizers can avoid dealing with complex issues and a visible happiness/unity can be preserved. But under all the “Home of Happy Feet” talk lies turmoil.
A relevant excerpt from Robert’s article is:
“However, as I document in my forthcoming book ‘Sustaining Democracy,’ when groups adopt fidelity to group cohesion as necessary for authentic membership, they begin to splinter. As groups ‘circle the wagons,’ they become increasingly invested in maintaining the border between those within the circle and those outside. This often takes the form of policing their ranks for poseurs. The goal of partisan unity hence transforms into a demand for doctrinal conformity. Purity and loyalty to the group itself take center stage within the group. Consequently, those who deviate from the dominant conception of the group’s core are disciplined, stifled or expelled.”
There’s quite a bit of chatter these days within the swing community espousing this notion of unity but it appears quite performative and naive. Unity isn’t just showing up. Unity is about addressing deficits and critiques so that unity is a byproduct of the work put into address complex issues. As we once wrote to someone who asked - “how do we help Denver be better as a whole?”
“As to how we help Denver be better? My answer is by holding people accountable, demanding demonstrable proof of growth, respecting people's time and talents, making room for difficult conversations, and sometimes choosing better people and organizations to devote personal energy toward.“