Will Jan. 6 hearings lead to Americans embracing facts and evidence?
Good morning, readers:
I missed watching the first Jan. 6 Committee hearing live last week because I was moderating a candidate forum in Martin, Tennessee.
However, some of the issues the bipartisan committee brought up made their way to the stage at the University of Tennessee campus there during the segment with congressional candidates for West Tennessee's District 8.
The three Republican candidates minimized the events at the U.S. Capitol, and some said they were present during the rally before the attack.
As moderator, I challenged statements that the election was stolen and that Joe Biden was not the legitimate President of the United States.
It is one thing to dislike the results and be unhappy about who won; it's another thing to impugn and malign the electoral system because you do not like the outcome.
On Wednesday, my Tennessee Voices video podcast with Gray Sasser and John Geer from Vanderbilt's Project on Unity and American Democracy focused on facts and evidence.
We talked about how there used to be common ground on the "rules of the game" when it came to uphold the legitimacy of American institutions. Finding our way back is paramount.
Polarization in American politics is creating fissures in citizens' ability to uphold our society.
For more than four years, I have championed the USA TODAY Network Tennessee's Civility Tennessee campaign.
One of the greatest hurdles is persuading people that civility is not about being merely polite or being a doormat. It is about exercising good citizenship, and that means sometimes challenging statements when they are untrue.
Disagreements are healthy in a democracy, and democracy is messy; but citizenship is a responsibility we bear to sustain our commitment to our republic.
Scroll to read more commentary in this week's newsletter.
Special presentation on Juneteenth launches
Juneteenth is on Sunday — a celebration of when Union brought the news to enslaved Black people in Texas on June 19, 1865, that they were free after the end of the Civil War. Nearly 30 Black leaders across the state accepted our invitation to write about Juneteenth, what it means to them and what lessons America still needs to learn.
Take the time to read the essays and see how the authors provide diverse reflections and offer wisdom. Some see the new federal holiday as bittersweet, and others fear Juneteenth encourages more performative acts than actually eliminating racism. Others talk about new and old family traditions. Still others see it as an opportunity to further evolve. One of my favorite lines came from an essay whose author called Juneteenth a "Thanksgiving prayer" for enslaved people seeking freedom.
Upcoming candidate forums
The fourth of six USA TODAY Network Tennessee gubernatorial and congressional primary forums is at University of Tennessee Health Science Center today at 7 p.m. CDT/8 p.m. EDT. If you can't make it, watch it live at this link.
Find the full schedule of forums here, and sign up for tickets. Admission is free, but registration is required.
Thank you!
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. Email him at dplazas@tennessean.com, call him at (615) 259-8063 or tweet to him at @davidplazas. Subscribe to a USA TODAY Network - Tennessee publication.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Will Jan. 6 hearings lead to Americans embracing facts and evidence?
