Having moved from polls to poultry just in time for Thanksgiving, we are still facing political unrest as more election lawsuits loom. So we ask ourselves the same question we asked last year (and the year before): should we ban political discussion around the holiday dinner table?

Because many people are passionate about politics, you might not want to automatically ban partisan banter (or hats reflecting one's political leanings for that matter).

This holiday season, as COVID-19 cases spike across the country, many Americans will forgo family celebrations. But for some people, these canceled plans may come with a silver lining: no squabbling about politics with in-laws, uncles or cousins.

Of course, most Americans avoid talking politics at family get-togethers in the first place because they worry that political disagreements will ruin the holidays.

But this is a mistake.

I am often asked to speak at conferences on gender and diversity, where I usually introduce myself as a Latina Republican from Los Angeles who works in the oil and gas business. I also note that I’m an only child—a good thing because I am used to being alone. My opening usually gets laughs but it also makes a point. People can provide a minority voice through different slices of their identities. I’ve found that some of these slices seem to be more socially acceptable to dismiss than others.

This Abridge News topic aggregates four unique arguments on different sides of the debate. Here are the quick facts to get you started:

THE QUICK FACTS

The loudest, most dominant voices in American political discourse often are the ones with the least thought-through, least useful perspectives.

For a brief moment, we had a broad, bipartisan national consensus that the police should not kill those in their custody. Then, our warring factions of idiots went and ruined it.

National Conversation Project partners are hosting open online conversations to help you #WeaveCommunity with fellow Americans from coast to coast! Join them, then take the practice local in your community.