Kentucky Kitchen Table in Bowling Green, KY.

April 20, 2018April 28, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

by Madeline

Our dinner took place in Bowling Green, KY on April 15th. Caroline, Jenny, and Zora attended. Our Kentucky Kitchen Table was a little unconventional since Zora and I were unable to have them at home with family, and I think this gave our KKT a unique college perspective! Caroline is a junior at Western Kentucky University majoring in advertising and grew up in the Lexington area. Jenny is a junior majoring in nursing originally from the United Kingdom, but moved to America when she was in elementary school. Zora is a freshman majoring in economics with aspirations to do law (also in Honors 251) and is from Bowling Green, but has moved around as both her parents are social workers. I’m from Scottsville, KY, a small town about 30 minutes south of Bowling Green. We had baked spaghetti with garlic bread, Zora brought special food as she is vegan. I made the food, but Caroline and Jenny provided their apartment and dinnerware.

We talked about what it means to be a citizen, on both a local and national level. Overall, everyone seemed to come to a consensus that citizenship is about being kind to one another. Jenny talked a lot of how her Christian faith led her to want to help and be kind to others. She wants to be a nurse, so her future is going to be centered around caring for other people. She said she wanted to be kind to people and have a good impression, because maybe one day she can share the love of Christ with them. She also talked of the difference between the United Kingdom and the United States in regard to kindness. She said in the U.K. everyone is in their own little world just trying to get from place to place, and that smiling or saying hello to a stranger would be strange. I feel like this is more of a Kentucky thing, but it made me feel good about being a U.S. citizen nonetheless.

When it came to eating around a kitchen table, Caroline and Jenny had, while Zora and I had not on a regular basis. Zora’s family has an odd schedule from both her parents being social workers, and they all have different eating habits. She said it would have been nice to have dinners together, comparing it to how she enjoys holidays with her family. For me, I lived with my single grandmother for years, and my mom and brother moved in with us when I turned 13. We all had different schedules and the kitchen table was never clean, so we had a lot of fast food and freezer meals. Because this was unconventional, we never really ate around the table together and definitely did not have any neighbors over. I always wished that that had been different, but it was hard to advocate for it at the time because no one else really wanted to. Caroline and Jenny both had positive experiences from eating at the table. Caroline said it was a sort of release to get to have that time with her family, in that it was a time to just relax and not think about anything else going on. I think eating at the table and having that conversation probably strengthens family relationships as well. If dinners have any of the same conversation that our Kentucky Kitchen Table did, they are most likely opinion shaping. I would say actually talking about these issues probably results in children having some of the same ideas as their parents, which is neither good nor bad, I just know that I have a completely liberal view on life in contrast to my grandmother, and it could be from not ever talking about it and how my opinions were shaped outside of the home.

When talking of what advice we would give to future politicians running for office our stances were centered around keeping people in mind. I feel this is odd in that political leaders should already be trying to represent the vast majority of people. Politics have become more about popularity, fame, and money than service to the country. It is sad that a group of college students are so disheartened by the government in our country, but maybe this can be some sort of fuel for change. When looking at the three questions that frame our class, I feel that this issue relates to them all. We can solve problems if we talk about the issues at hand. We can live better together push for change. We can have more of a say over our lives in just doing these things.

I also think it is interesting that everyone at the table wanted to be a good person that people respected. This seems like common sense, but how does chaos and evil break out if everyone in the world had a desire to do good? This relates to the Love Thy Neighbor readings by Peter Maass, that is surrounding the violence within the Bosnian War. Everything was normal and peaceful prior to war, a place like the United States. War was able to start out of what seems like nowhere. Misunderstanding and unresolved conflict is the core of fighting, and this dinner represents a grain of sand in the scheme of talking it out, but is still a representation of working to an understanding nonetheless.

This leads me to the overall way this dinner translated into the class for me. After a week of deliberations I realized this dinner represented something much bigger that society is lacking. The key thing that tied this dinner and deliberation together is conversation. One thing that I feel people really are not good at today is talking about issues. People never want to listen to opposing opinions. I think this has led to the younger generations just staying out of all of it, not wanting to engage in confrontation that actually should just be conversation. In the David Brook’s article If it Feels Right he talks about this, in that people just go with “what feels right” in the moment, rather than analyzing and coming up with new ideas of what is right.

Eating with my peers was refreshing, and I came out of my Kentucky Kitchen Table with a better understanding of how this small dinner can relate to the overall themes of the class. I feel like sharing this experience with college students made the dinner different, but did not affect the depth of the assignment.

Different Viewpoints Across Generations

April 20, 2018April 27, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

By Kelsie

My family had a late Easter dinner on April 14, 2018 which is when I chose to engage in my Kentucky Kitchen Table Project. This took place in Calvary, Kentucky which is the birthplace of both of my great grandparents. At the dinner (my table) was myself, my grandfather, Rickie, great grandmother, Patty, and my other great grandmother, Betty. I chose to have this discussion with people who were older in order to view different generations’ perceptions on citizenship, government, e.g. Both of my great grandmothers are in their early eighties and have lived in Marion County their entire lives, Patty describes herself as wiser due to being the oldest of ten siblings. Both come from agricultural families of middle-class income. Ricky, my grandfather is in his fifties and is more engaged in politics than my grandmothers. I started off this discussion by asking the first question to them “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” To which the conversation began to center around how America allows people to earn their status based on achievement and hard work, in many cases. Patty stated “I wish I had the opportunities your generation had, I always felt like I was obligated to stay around here and do exactly what all my family did before me.” In some cases, social class can hinder one’s ability to fulfill their dreams, but when bringing this up they all agreed that although college is expensive that it is much more accessible for today’s youth. I found this as an interesting topic because in our class we always talk about how we could live better together and I feel that most people coming to college and fulfilling their dreams have some interest in learning more about others on diverse college campuses. Furthermore, another topic of discussion relating to this question was that citizenship to them means that you should contribute to society and work hard at whatever contribution you make. My grandfather is a very hard-working farmer, which he takes a lot of pride in, and said that having that contribution to society makes him feel like he is a part of something, and gives him purpose rather than focusing on the monetary incentive. This statement motivated me to move into another point of discussion on what types of people they wanted to be, and although my great grandmothers are old in age they had some very refreshing answers. My grandmother, Betty, said that she wants to be more carefree and outspoken; Grandma Betty has always been the quieter of the two, but she claimed that talking to people that she doesn’t know is still something that she forces herself to do on occasion. I found this inspiring because if all of us would go out of our way to talk to strangers and get to know other people in society I feel that could be a small start to understanding and living better together as American citizens. Furthering from her answer, the main theme of their desires was to be a person who was hard-working, religious, and honest. In my opinion, I feel that these are all qualities that I strive for and are very respected in their generation as well as this generation. Also, since they brought up religion I introduced the question of whether religious beliefs shaped how they believed we should treat others. Since they are honest people they did admit that being raised within a period where racism was more prevalent that they were not proud of how they had viewed African Americans at some points in their life, but all three of them said that because of their deep belief in God and his creations that they never treated anyone as different. They also expressed that they consciously tried to be compassionate to others and their situations due to their religious beliefs. Therefore, I believe that religious beliefs do motivate some people to disregard biases they may have been exposed to, to accept people as equal and treat people with respect.

The next topic of discussion I focused on was the community-based conversation starter, such as “what kind of community do you live in?” and “what do you love most about living where you do?” My guests are a part of my extended family and all grew up and remain in a small, rural area that is about fifteen minutes from the small city that defines our community. My grandfather stated his excitement for this topic because he absolutely loves our small town, his main positive aspects are how personable people are in a small town. You know how they say in small towns everyone knows everyone, he loves running into someone he knows everywhere he goes. Another positive aspect he discussed was the convenience of not being too close to anyone, considering he lives on a large farm, but still feeling like “I could go next door to ask to borrow some sugar.” He expressed that the feeling of unity he feels in our community is by far his favorite part of our town. On the other hand, though I feel that most people in my hometown community are basically the same causing issues with no diversity and low exposure to different people and cultures. Also, my grandmother, Patty, said that she loved how safe the community was. This stems from the unified feeling when coming from a small town, but with less people who also all know each other, crimes seem to be more defining and shameful. My grandmother calls me often telling me that I should not walk alone and to carry maze with me everywhere I go which shows how paranoid she is about the dangers of being surrounded by more people considering that Bowling Green is a city, which commonly have higher crime. Therefore, small towns seem to be ideal in some aspects but also contain drawbacks when discussing exposure.

Branching off from this topic, this sense of togetherness in a small community like mine made them feel that they had an obligation to help others in the community. For example, a young boy lost his leg in a car accident and the community supported him by buying t-shirts to fund treatment, mentioning his story and praying for him throughout county churches, e.g. The obligation to help others is increased when the situation is more personable. Contrastingly, other than my grandfather, my grandmothers thought that the United States needed to fix our own problems rather than dealing with other countries issues, unless a state of emergency arises. My grandfather strongly disagreed though, which may be in part because he knows more about large issues in the world, and he combatted this with the fact that the United States is obviously one of the most privileged countries in the world and that we should use what we possess to help other countries and their citizens who are struggling through poverty, e.g. Therefore, their deliberation conveyed the problems within and outside of the United States that were close to their hearts.

Betty said “the social issue that is closest to my heart is all of the drugs these young people use that ruins their lives.” In our family, there is someone directly affected by drug addiction, therefore making this topic especially important to us. Once agreeing with my grandmother, I discussed our article “How to Stop the Deadliest Drug Overdose Crisis in American History” by German Lopez by introducing some of the solutions such as preventing wrongful prescription of opioids, making drug usage safer, and making treatment more accessible. They came to the consensus that some of these solutions paired together could potentially resolve the issue, but they seemed to see the addiction as more of a disciplinary fix. My grandfather strongly wanted stricter regulations on drug activity because he saw the options I offered to them as more enabling which we discussed in class, since they did not actually prevent drug usage he, most of all, thought they would not help as much as in theory they would. He believes that if there is more of a punishment enforced that there is less of an incentive to even start using these drugs. Although, I explained that the options of better access to treatment or making drug use safer as ways to save lives which both of my grandmothers felt was the most important thing to begin to address the problem. Our personal relationship really affected their viewpoints on the issue I believe because they knew that this addiction was not primarily a moral issue which is normally a large misconception of the public, as we discussed.

Through this experience I learned not only more about my family members but more about myself. I now recognize all the good things that stemmed from my unique background and community, along with why there may be more controversy and issues in Bowling Green rather than my hometown. This relates to what we have learned in class because through leaving that small town I have experienced so many different people with varying backgrounds and viewpoints which I believe will help me live better with others, solve problems, and have more of a say in my own life in the future. Furthermore, I learned how disciplined the older generation is, I feel that the newer generation is so much more accepting and open to deliberation, discussion of large issues than those generations who have very strict belief sets. For example, my grandfather directly putting the opioid epidemic in the hands of law enforcement because although my grandmothers saw that this was not a moral issue, he thought that it was punishable due to the moral decision to initially take opioids. This experience was very eye opening and helped me to relate to many issues that we have been discussing this semester.

Brenna’s KKT: Kitchen Table in The Capital

April 20, 2018April 28, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

kkt

By Brenna

On Friday, April 13^th, I traveled to my hometown Frankfort for my Kentucky Kitchen Table assignment. I had invited my mother’s group of close-knit work friends that I had only met a few times before. I brought my close friend Nathaniel with me so I did not have to make the drive alone. All together my house held nine people and two dogs. My mother insisted on cooking a southern comfort meal for all of us. She is experiencing empty nest syndrome and has missed cooking throughout the week. She fried chicken, cooked green beans, made cornbread, and baked macaroni and cheese. It was five-star meal compared to what I usually get at Fresh. Despite the bad juju surrounding the day, being Friday the 13^th and all, the meal was a success.

My mother’s friends all work in some department of Kentucky’s state government. Therefore, our choice of background noise was the KET live-stream of the Kentucky Chambers during this crazy legislative session. Growing up in the state’s capital, this was a familiar scene in my household. My mother has worked for the state in various capacities. She is currently serving as one of three, also the only female, Public Service Commissioner. She is fiscally conservative, but she thinks “everyone should mind their own business about everyone else’s bedrooms and bodies.” I could not have said it better myself.

Eileen is an opinionated woman who has learned to love life. She works an office job but finds herself traveling across the country on a Harley during the summers with her husband. Karen is an eccentric friend that my mother has known for many years; they worked together under Fletcher. An avid UK fan and fellow political science student. Aron is one of the only males accepted into this gang of women. Aron is a tremendously intelligent young man with an extremely analytical mind. He was able to work abroad for the government because he is fluent in Chinese. Kenya is actually a WKU Alum, and a very proud one at that. She is enthusiastic and lots of fun to be around. She has an adorable daughter that I’ll be babysitting this summer. Shiela was the only friend I had not met before. She is quieter than the others but just as opinionated and wise. Scott was Aron’s friend that tagged along. He was very timid, but this group of brash women can be intimidating. My friend Nathaniel is a fellow Hilltopper and took Honors 251 in the Fall 17 semester but his professor did not require a Kentucky Kitchen Table project. My dogs, Misty and Buttercup, were the life of the party and expressed their moderate political views by barking at certain legislators on the television.

Overall, the group was fiscally conservative. However, they have many different views on things such as environmental issues, social issues, and Kentucky issues. We spoke on the pension bill and budget that was making its way through the House that day. It was evident that these women realized the consequences of these bills – almost more so than the legislators themselves. Their jobs are directly affected by these bills which then affect how they can serve the Commonwealth. The group cared about their jobs and had a passion for serving the people of the Commonwealth in whatever capacity they held.

The only question I was able to ask before the work gossip started was the required question: Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?

Eileen grew up in a military family so she believed that service was important to citizenship. Not necessarily military service, but public service or even just community service. She believed that this was an important aspect to improve one’s community as well. This received a few nods of agreement from the group. Shiela chimed in that simply participating was important. Voting, for example, is not just picking a name on a ballot. Actively participating in an election is following the cycle and learning of the candidates to choose the one that most aligns with your views. As a group, we decided this was an extremely plausible aspect of citizenship that everyone can do. Social media has made news easily accessible for all. While this may spread “fake news” it keeps people aware of the current political climate. Karen wanted to add that one does not need to be extremely passionate about politics to be an active participant. Emphasizing that although we as a group enjoy watching the KET live stream and C-SPAN, being a good citizen does not require you to carry a pocket constitution and dream of internships in DC. We are passionate about these things, but that does not make us better citizens than those who do not. My mother then chimes in from the kitchen “Also, don’t be stupid!” She uses that as a basic rule of thumb for most aspects of life. From here the conversation steered towards anecdotes about kids and work gossip. Another piece advice I learned, from daredevil Eileen of course, was “If you’re gonna sin, sin hard.”

Overall, the dinner was extremely enjoyable. These women and Aron have a dynamic extremely similar to that of my college friends. They truly enjoy each other’s company and it was great to learn faces and personalities of the people my mom spends the most time with. They were also knowledgeable and wise. Through their years they have learned many aspects of citizenship that I, at just 19, am ignorant of. Citizenship can be stripped to simply doing your responsibilities: follow laws, pay taxes, vote a few times a year. However, citizenship requires participation. Active participation. This does not mean everyone must hold public office, but everyone should know who serves in a public office. Simply being aware of your legislators is a great start to becoming a good citizen.

One of the central questions of this course is: How can we have more of a say over our lives – and contribute to others having more of a say over their lives? I believe this starts with actively participating in elections. Being knowledgeable of the candidates and throwing your support behind one can make the difference. If you support a candidate it is possible that your friends will as well and this can ignite change into today’s government by placing new faces in old seats. The group agreed that having a voice starts with a whisper but can soon become a yell. At first, it may seem like the effort is making no difference but soon, one can impact many lives. My Kentucky Kitchen Table was full of great people, great food, and even better advice.

Seth’s KKT: The Answer’s Problems

April 20, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

By Seth

I conducted my Kentucky Kitchen Table on April 14th in Bowling Green kentucky with five other people. Carter is a junior at South Warren High School and is involved in the school’s FFA chapter, the bowling team, and the music/ marching band program. Pauline and William are from Tompkinsville Kentucky where William is running for major. They spend a lot of their time interacting with the community and are well known in the town. Keely, my little sister, is currently a middle school student that has played three years of recreational soccer and has an interest in being a psychologist when she is older. Chris, my father, has been a high school drafting teacher at the new vocational in Logan Kentucky for nineteen years. The largest diversity among the group lies in the difference of age; each person at the table represents a different generation which is extremely valuable for discussion because it includes the opinions and experiences of each generation. Interestingly, the three oldest members also differ in their political party affiliation; William is registered as a democrat while Chris is a libertarian and Pauline is a republican. This is also a great opportunity for the discussion as it is interesting how the three main political parties’ values are represented in each person’s comments and how they might differ from the other two parties.

After the introduction of each person I opened the discussion by asking the question “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?”. The majority of the responses were not surprising as most everyone responded with answers such as being there for their fellow citizens when they struggle and having the mentality of reaching your full potential for the sake of the society. Carter mentioned something insightful about knowing where you fit into the community; the main idea being that the most you can do as a citizen is to find where you are most needed and do everything in your power to do the best in that position knowing you owe that to your community. The most surprising response to that question was from William who stated that much of being a citizen is the ability to move forward despite the hardship that the government will put on you. This was a shocking comment mainly because William is running for major in Tompkinsville, therefore, led me to believe that this was precisely the reason to run in the first place; he wants to try to reduce the strain that authority puts on his fellow citizens by being that authority himself. In his situation and response to the question, William represents what many of us strive to be as citizens and I am very proud to know him.

After we discussed the required question we moved on to more specific issues such as gun control, the opioid epidemic, and the death penalty. While we were discussing these issues I noticed the main theme in regards as to why these problems are so difficult to solve was believed to be that the majority of the people are not directly connected to the problem and that when they are it is extremely polar to one side which can get in the way of solving the problem from both sides. Chris mentioned for example that the reason that the opioid epidemic is such a powerful problem comes from the fact that not enough people are invested through genuine knowledge and experience to the problem and therefore do not work to solve it. The table seemed to agree that the big obstacle in trying to solve these problems comes from the ignorance of the people about the entirety of the problem.

I mentioned the issue of trying to solve problems when information is incomplete and people are misinformed due to lack of exposure to the problem and asked them to balance the benefit of immediate action and drawback of haste with the benefit of deeper investigation and drawback of delayed action to these problems such as gun control and the opioid epidemic. The consensus of the table seemed to be conditional based on the social issue at hand which reflected the main ideas of wicked problems; there are characteristics that define a wicked problem and many social issues are categorized as wicked problems but ultimately wicked problems are unique to each other. This is the most formidable characteristic of wicked problems making the answer to one of the three main questions of the class, how do we solve problems, indefinite. The answer to that question is frustrating because it is conditional and as humans seeking answers to similar yet unique problems we hate it when we cannot generalize.

Due to the diversity of the table regarding age, I thought it would be a good opportunity to discuss our thoughts about how our generations have become connected. I was curious about what we thought about each other and wanted to see the degree at which society in general has changed through the point of view of Pauline and William. I started off by asking about the amount major issues in this generation’s society and how they might compare to the amount of social issues seen in the older generations. I was not surprised to see that Pauline and William thought that, with time, the amount of major social issues within the nation has increased substantially. When we discussed why more problems arise in this generation it was interesting what Chris noted. He claimed that it might not be that this generation has more problems but instead it might actually be that with the advancements in technology, transportation, and various communication methods that we are simply more aware of the many social issues facing our nation. So with this I thought that maybe our country is much more united and informed than the older generation. We discussed this a little further and I found that the degree of unity probably has not changed in amount but rather in form. The older generations seemed to be more unified in the sense of local community while the younger generations gradually became more detached from their local society and more unified with the bigger more general aspects of society. When I asked why, William responded by crediting this to the advancement in technology and medicine. He claimed that with all these advancements, the individual can do more for themself and will not have to rely on the diversity of their local community for as much help.

With everything that was discussed, the project was a fun opportunity to get connected with people in the community and discuss the way in which we see our community’s characteristics and issues. It was a great chance to become a bigger part in each other’s lives thus unifying the community even more. I was able to take away many themes from the conversations, not the least of which was how we tend to believe that we have too many differences to overcome a shared problem and how this cannot be further from the truth. I noticed this because before the dinner I was under the notion that much of the discussion would be saturated with debate and differences due to three distinctly different political parties being present along with such a polar generation gradient. My initial judgement was quickly extinguished when we found each other agreeing on many actions that could be taken to solve social issues such as gun control and the opioid epidemic. I was thoroughly surprised with the conversation and came up with the idea that, in the face of extreme social issues, in order to come up with any plan of action, we must overcome our differences in opinion to come up with a solution. While the dinner table is not the way large scale society functions, it did give a small scale example about how we must interact with one another to advance in the right direction.

The focus I had in this Kentucky Kitchen Table was based upon wicked problems; I was curious to see how other people viewed wicked problems and attempted to dissect them. Much of the conversation reflected exactly what we learned in class about wicked problems; we could not attempt to solve them without drawbacks, there was a struggle to find a solution for every side of the problem, and actions could not be expected to work without trying to change the opinions of others which also reflected what we learned about communicating with each other. Throughout the discussion the three main questions of the course were starting to be answered when I looked at the effects the project had on the table. The answer, while it may be incomplete, was very clear once the project had concluded and was surprisingly simple. The answer is rooted in what the project was; the answer is communication, deliberation, discussion, and participation. When we apply these things to something larger than the dinner table we will start to see progress. The progress that is made once we do this on large scale is progress that involves everyone. The experience, ideas, beliefs, and knowledge of everyone afflicted by a social issue is able to be presented and utilized once we participate together. With this in mind, the answer to the three main questions of this course results in the most complicated wicked problem I have encountered. How do we get everyone involved in society through communication, deliberation, discussion, and participation? Once we answer this wicked problem, progress will result beyond the kitchen table. KKT

Cut the Small Talk

April 19, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

By Callie

My name is Callie and my Kentucky’s Kitchen Table project took place in Bowling Green, Kentucky on April 14, 2018. There were six people present at the dinner including myself. Because my immediate family lives in three separate states, I decided to do my project with two of my closest friends who are like family to me, and three other people I had never met before. All of us come from different families and different cities. We have roots in five different states.

Ramon is 20 years old and is a nutritionist for the Army. He lives on base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky but is from Williamsburg, Virginia. He is African American but was raised by both a white family, who adopted him, and his black family. As a kid, he grew up in poverty until his best friend’s family took him in at age fifteen and provided him financial stability. Now that he has a stable career, he is able to send money back home to his siblings who live with his grandparents.

Michael is 22 and he is also a nutritionist in the Army and lives on base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Last year, he served nine months in Kuwait. In a few weeks, his contract will be up and he will switch from active duty to reserves. He is moving back home to Chicago, Illinois to study to become a nurse practitioner. He would prefer a practical career that will earn him a lot of money, rather than one that he feels passionate about.

Kayshla is from Texas and goes to WKU. She is mixed, Puerto Rican and Caucasian. She is 22 and has one more year of college. She is studying Communication and Leadership with hopes of working with the Special Olympics. She has a passion for helping people and making a difference in the lives of others. Kayshla is also a strong Christian and strives to model that in the way she treats others.

Chelsea is 25. She wants to work with children with intellectual disabilities and learn how to improve their learning processes in the most effective ways. She wants to help these children improve their skills in order for them to perform efficiently. Chelsea has a big heart and strives to help others in any way possible.

Lindsey is 21 and is from Somerset, Kentucky. She attends WKU where she is majoring in Electrical Engineering and Meteorology and minoring in Systems Engineering and Mathematics. She wants to be a satellite or radar engineer.

Finally, I am 19 years old and studying Exercise Science and Entrepreneurship. I am originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina but now call both Louisville, Kentucky and Norfolk, Virginia home. I am working to create and own my own gym and am currently studying to get my personal training certification. I believe very strongly in creating a life you love and never settling for a job and lifestyle that do not make you excited to get out of bed every morning.

To begin the night, we all gathered in the kitchen. Instead of all bringing separate dishes, we decided to cook together and combine the dinner with a game night. Kayshla and Lindsey made lasagna with veggies while Ramon and Chelsea made pizza because they didn’t want lasagna. Michael and I made cookie brownies for dessert.

I started the conversation by asking the required question, “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” Everyone had pretty similar answers for this question with a focus on putting others above ourselves and helping out those in need. This was one of the biggest themes of our conversation.

I was really excited to talk to Ramon and Michael because I was curious about the effects of the Army on their viewpoints. To dig into this, I asked, “How does being in the army affect the way you view the world today?” They looked at each other with wide eyes and the conversation seemed to shift away from the light-hearted mood we had before. Michael said that the current president in office has a lot of the men and women serving our country on their toes. He said that with the recent Syria bombing, while most regular citizens take the topic a little lighter, everyone in the military immediately grew fearful of being deployed. Ramon who plans to get out of the Army as soon as his contract is up, cut in and said, “If World War III were to happen, we’d be gone,” suggesting that the military would deploy everyone. He also said that many people are indifferent about decisions involving the nation’s military and fail to realize that every number is a soldier’s life and every soldier has friends and family whose lives would also be drastically affected if they were deployed.

Michael added that he feels like the president is looking at a map and deciding a location to bomb without considering the fact that there are innocent families living there. He said that to the president, it’s entirely political and he seems to care so little about the aftermath. Michael said, “I hate that I’m technically apart of that and associated with the death of innocent kids.”

When they brought this issue up, it reminded me of “Green Fire, the Still Point, and an Oak Grove,” by Robert Hass. I took a minute to explain this reading to everyone at the table. All of us agreed that people tend to speak on issues without knowing all of the facts. In the case of the bombing of Syria, Michael and Ramon felt that some people were quick to support the president’s decision without taking in consideration the effects that it could have on innocent Syrian families and the United States Military.

Next I asked everyone what kind of person they wanted to be. I was afraid everyone at the table would say similar things, such as “I want to be kind to others,” but this question ended up sparking the most moving response of the conversation. I asked everyone to go in a circle and respond. When it was Ramon’s turn, he said that he wanted to be a person who lived every second of his life to the fullest. At age nine, Ramon lost his 26 year old mom to a severe heart condition. It made him realize that every day he is alive is precious because he is getting closer and closer to the age his mom lost her life. He was also born with heart issues which can sometimes scare him because he knows the next day is never promised. He then said that even saying this aloud made him want to get out of his routine because his biggest fear is living an average life.

The last question I asked was which social issue is most important to everyone. This question was super important to me because we as individuals cannot give our all to resolving each and every social issue but we can pick one or two and make it our passion to change it.

Ramon started by saying that the most important issue to him is racial inequality, and more specifically, police brutality. He said he cares so much about it because he feels like we as a country are not making progress with race issues. He said something to the effect of, “No one should be treated like that, it’s not righteous at all. I am scared because that could be my little sister or brother.”

Chelsea agreed with Ramon and said that she believes while we as a country have gotten better in many ways, she thinks it has been 3 steps forward and 2 steps back. She also brought up gun violence which has been so prevalent in our society recently. She said she thinks there are a lot of things we need to change.

Kayshla added that she believes change starts with teaching our children right from wrong. She believes that loving each other more and helping out those who need it will help us unite as a country.

Michael said that while he agrees that we need more love in the world, he also thinks there are more practical steps to making change. He said that we as a society need to continue bringing social issues to light and speak out when we don’t agree with something.

I agreed with Michael and added that many people are unwilling to understand other people’s point of view and need to practice the act of listening. I emphasized the importance of deliberation to finding common ground with wicked problems.

Lindsey was the last person to speak on the issue and said that she has never been asked this question and it made her realize that although she cares a lot about certain issues, she is doing nothing to change or improve them. She didn’t know exactly what was the most important issue to her.

Lindsey’s realization reminded us of the importance of making meaningful conversation with the people around us. Too often, we hardly scratch the surface even with the people we are closest with. Many times, they are willing to share the hardships they’ve experienced if we just get the courage to ask.

This project gave me the opportunity to not only meet new people but also grow as a person. I have many family members who have experienced interesting things, like war, poverty, divorce, disease, etc. that I am always hesitant to ask about, as they might be sensitive subjects. However, this project made me realize that I can learn a lot very quickly about people and the world if I am simply willing to ask questions and listen. This project inspired me to cut the small talk with my family and friends and dig deeper into what makes them the way they are today.

Coleton’s KKT

April 18, 2018May 14, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-7,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-Y

By Coleton

When I first heard about the Kentucky’s Kitchen Table assignment, I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it. I thought that it was a neat concept, but my family is very conservative, and they also do not truly take the time to truly hear what each person has to say so serious conversations can often be frustrating. I still knew I had to do it and as the time to do it came closer I stopped dreading it so much and just wanted to get the dinner part over with. I had planned my Kentucky’s Kitchen Table for spring break where my whole family, as well as another family from my hometown, Mt. Juliet TN, would be in a house together. Unfortunately, we never sat down for a meal at the house like we had planned at the beginning of the week because we were at Universal Studios from open to close almost every day, so we never had a meal altogether that wasn’t at a restaurant. Luckily, I was going to visit my friend’s family with him a week later in Union Kentucky, which is right by Cincinnati, and they offered to help me out with my project and host my Kentucky’s Kitchen Table at their house.

On the day that we were going to have dinner together, I woke up and looked out the window and saw a blanket of snow covering the ground. It was so beautiful. It had been awhile since I had seen some real snow on the ground. I love how the snow reflected the sunlight into the windows and filled the whole house with a radiating energy that would put anyone in a good mood. On the menu for dinner were buffalo chicken tacos, a recipe found on Pinterest that his mother Beverly had been wanting to try. The smell of buffalo chicken soon filled the house and it got me excited for the meal that we were going to share.

Once dinner was finished cooking we all went to the kitchen and made our plates and claimed our spot around the table. As I sat down I thought about one of the requirements for the Kentucky’s Kitchen Table assignment: that we were required to have a diverse group of people at our meal. I started thinking that this was not good because I am the only one sitting here with a different last name, so where is the diversity in that? But then as we started talking I would soon realize that there can be diversity even in a family unit.

Taylor is a single mom and a college nursing student that works as a waitress at Skyline Chili. Taylor’s three-year-old daughter Audrey also joined us for dinner, she didn’t say much about the topics, but she gave the dinner a certain breath of fresh air with some comedic relief. Zach is nineteen, a pre-vet student, and is gay. Emma is a high school freshman. Beverly and Jamos, the mother and father of the family, work at the VA in town. I learned my first lesson of the night from this very moment. Just because two people are from the same family, it doesn’t necessarily mean that those two people will have the same life experience. Sure, they grew up with the same parents and in the same physical home, but your life experiences are molded by the people you surround yourself with and what characteristics you possess.

The first question I asked everyone was the only required question of the night: Other than voting and paying taxes, what does it mean to be a citizen. After I asked the question, everyone just sat in silence staring at me until. I thought that the dinner was going to be like pulling out teeth to get people to answer my questions, but then Beverly asked what I meant by the question. Once I cleared up the question, Zach answered that other than paying taxes and voting you need to be active in your community and help others. When we all inquired about what he meant about that he explained that being a citizen is like being productive to your community and not allowing others to go unnoticed, and he then admitted to not really being a citizen according to his definition. He explained that he is not active in his community and does not always reach out to help other people. Everyone around the table nodded their heads and voiced their agreement to what Zach had said, but no one else really spoke up soon after. I found this answer intriguing because we all had this idea of citizenship as being active in our community, and we all would call ourselves citizens, yet none of us thought that we really were active in our community.

In order to carry that idea over, I inquired about their relationships with their neighbors. Beverly said that when the kids were young they would all play outside together and they would be friendly with their neighbors. They said it wasn’t odd to say hello and have a small conversation or ask to borrow some milk, but they would not talk about serious topics or share meals together. Zach jumped in and said that they still have one neighbor that they talk to occasionally but other than the wave as you are driving by, they don’t really talk to their neighbors. I did not find this to be especially groundbreaking. I mean, my family has experienced the same thing as all of my family grew up and no longer played outside with the neighborhood kids.

Soon after we had talked about this I asked what they thought the best thing about the world is today. Emma jumped in with how connected everyone is in my class on social media and things of that nature, and Jamos added how being that connected can also sometimes be a bad thing due to bullies and the ongoing competition to be that much better and to get one more like or follower than your enemy. Beverly also said that she believes that how understanding everyone one is today. Everyone agreed with this statement and added that people are not judged as much for personal life choices made. I found this, along with the previous discussion, very interesting. That we as a society have become more open-minded and understanding of the people we live around, yet somehow, we have become less interactive with each other. I tried to ask what everyone thought about that and no one had an answer, but they understood what I was talking about. I found this to be one of the most interesting moments in our meal as we began to really think about how we, as a society, have become so kind with one another, yet we don’t talk as much in person. I think that this can connect with the empathy readings that describe how today’s generation is not fit to make moral decisions and we just do “what feels right.” We do not want to be subjected to judgment from any of our peers, so in turn, we don’t feel as if we should subject other to the same type of judgment we fear ourselves. Along with this, I think that we do not talk in person as much because it is just more convenient for us, in this fast-paced world, for us to connect with friends online. Upon further thinking I was able to conclude that people being more understanding and people not communicating as often in person are correlated, meaning they happen at the same time, but are not causal.

Moving forward in the conversation we all talked about politicians and some of the suggestions that we all had for people running for office. Beverly started with the politicians really listening to the people and doing things that benefit everyone and not just their campaign or their well-being in the political world. Zach also reiterated her claim by saying that there are too many politicians that would just do and say whatever they have to in order to be elected or to not lose support from the general public. I think that this would benefit the world greatly because even though the government and policies won’t fix all of the world’s problems, they can be a crucial stepping stone to get the public involved in these types of situations.

In closing, despite my initial reservations about the Kentucky’s Kitchen Table project, I thoroughly enjoyed what I was able to glean from the conversation I had with their family. Such as that diversity exists in the typical family unit, as well as the realization that we are becoming more understanding in a less in-person-connected world. I think that the world will change as soon as people start having more discussions like this because people can learn that there are other people that share their opinion with them. So, they can initiate change in their communities because all it takes is a small change to lead to something more.

Kentucky Kitchen Table

April 18, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

By Ashley

My Kentucky Kitchen Table took place in my home in the small town of Leitchfield, Kentucky. Leitchfield is in Grayson County and is about an hour drive away from Bowling Green. My dinner took place on April 15, 2018 after church. There were six people at my kitchen table not including myself. The names of the people around my table are (from left to right of me in the green dress): Henry Thomas (first and middle name), Steve, Mac, Bob, and Claire and my mother, Lisa, who chose not to be in the picture. I asked these individuals to my table because I had grown up being friends with Claire and had always gone to church with her family, but thought that this would be a great opportunity to get to know them better. First and foremost, my name is Ashley. I am pre-medicine and majoring in chemistry and minoring in biology. While I currently have enough college credit hours to be almost a junior status, it is my first year attending Western Kentucky University. Henry Thomas, known as “H.T.” to everyone, is a 93-year-old veteran who served in World War II and received a purple heart for getting shot in the arm while serving in Germany. Steve is a retired farmer who has three beautiful grandchildren that he loves with all of his heart. Mac is also a farmer who although had a stroke a while back, still does everything that he can to ensure that his farm stays functioning. Bob is the father of Claire; he is currently working at a law office, but also worked part time at the fire department in the past. Claire is a second-year medical school student at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and is currently thinking of specializing in a field rather than becoming a family physician. Lastly, my mother, Lisa, is a high school social studies teacher at the only high school in the county, Grayson County High School.

For our meal, my mother helped me make chicken, vegetables, and bread. Claire’s family brought a chocolate cake for us to have for dessert. Overall, while everyone at the table grew up either on a farm or around a farm and shared similar beliefs, they all shared unique perspectives on each topic brought up during the dinner. When asked what citizenship meant to them, the reply of Henry Thomas stood out the most to me mostly because of his respectable military past. Henry Thomas said, “To me citizenship is more than just abiding by the law and voting in yearly elections; it is showing that you are devoted enough to the privilege of freedom that you are willing to take time to do something for someone else. Whether it be a huge commitment like serving your country, or simply helping someone through community service, practicing citizenship is the concept of serving others before yourself.” Claire also agreed to the statement made by her grandfather adding that the concept of helping others is what drove her towards wanting to become a physician. It was never the thought that she may be financially well off, she wanted to spend her life making a difference in other people’s lives. My mother added that ever since she was a little girl she knew that she wanted to choose a career in which she could help others, so when she told her family that she was choosing to be a teacher, it was no surprise to them. Moreover, like his father Henry Thomas, Bob also had experience risking his life to ensure the safety of others by fighting fires, but he made the point to add that more individuals should contribute to local organizations that help the county run like the fire department.

Furthermore, when I asked the table what social issue is closest to their heart and why, each individual provided me with unique sides to each issue. My mother, Lisa, said that children going hungry and without love were two of the biggest things that bothered her each year as a teacher. My mother is unique in the fact that at the start of each week she asks students about their weekends each Monday through their bellwork and she always takes the time to read through each response and write at least a paragraph back. She said that we could not even begin to imagine the things that students had admitted to enduring over the two short days that they weren’t in school. She said the really sad thing is that students readily told her what their situations were, but no one else gave them that opportunity so often times those stories stayed bottled up. Over the course of her years she has been able to help many children, but she knows that there are always far more that she never gets to reach. Whenever Henry Thomas answered the question he related it to veterans and how they are treated when they come back from war. Living it first hand, whenever Henry Thomas came back from World War II, he struggled to be himself again for a long time and did not even think about seeking mental help. He believes now that there is factual evidence that post dramatic stress disorder is something that veterans suffer from, that each individual who served no matter how old, should have free access to services because even at 93 years old he still has flashbacks. When Claire answered the question about which social issue was close to her heart she answered that parents vaccinating their children was one that constantly bothered her. Since entering the medical field, Claire has seen first-hand the effects of what has happened since parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children. Diseases that were once thought eradicated have been coming back and it all due to the fact that some parents are choosing against getting vaccinations that would protect their children and others. Claire believes that the choice should be taken out of the parents’ hands and that all children should be vaccinated in order to not only protect the health of the individual child, but everyone else’s child as well.

Overall what I learned from the dinner was that even if individuals grow up with the same background such as Claire’s family, they can all hold different opinions and values on issues. I had known that Henry Thomas had served in World War II, but after hearing some of the things that he endured and seeing that he still turned out to be the person that he is today, I respected him immensely. I also strive to have a husband that loves me as much as he loves his late wife, Betty Jo. They were married for 65 years, and although she has been gone for over two years now due to Alzheimer’s Disease, he still talks about her like she is the best thing that ever happened to him. I also was not aware that Bob served as a volunteer fire fighter. Hearing some of the stories about how he barely made it out of burning homes also gave me a new-found respect for him. Moreover, although I have grown up hearing my mother’s stories all of my life I felt so proud to call her my mother hearing her talk about how passionate she was about helping the youth of our community.

My dinner relates to what we learned in our class because we often talked about whether or not we have a duty to help others, and each of the individuals at my table believed that yes; we do have a duty to help others when we have the means. Whenever talking to both my mother and Claire and her family, I was reminded of Jane Addams writings. In her writings, Jane expressed how she, like the individuals at my table, believed that people should stop coming up with excuses and start serving others. Furthermore, my dinner also related to one of the central themes of the class: how can we live better together (or at least less worse together)? This was seen as every single one of the individuals at my table was/is able to make a difference in the world by working to not just benefit themselves, but others. Whether it be through serving their community or country, providing food for their family and others, teaching the next generation, or helping to improve the health of others, everyone makes the world a little more colorful by adding their splash of uniqueness.

In conclusion, I thought that this was a very interesting assignment in the sense that not only did I get to enjoy a delicious meal and dessert, but I also got to get to know a wonderful family who have each made it their mission in life to help serve others. I hope in the future I can do this again, not for the purpose of an assignment, but to get to know the stories of more and more individuals that I otherwise would not have the opportunity to do so. Photo 1 (2)

Kentucky Kitchen Table: Citizenship Consensus

April 18, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

By Rylee

We could not get everyone in one shot, so Bonita is missing from the top picture and Michael is missing from the bottom one. Therefore, we took two photos to make sure they were at least each in one.

My KKT involved eight people, including myself, who met at my home in Bowling Green, KY. The first person there was my mother, Holly. She is 49 years old and is originally from Morgantown, KY. She teaches eighth grade English for a living at Butler County Middle School. She is passionate about her job and those she teaches, and is currently rallying for teachers’ rights in Kentucky. She makes a difference in as a citizen in this way. Second was my stepdad, Michael. Michael grew up in Brownsville, KY, better known as Edmonson County. As a young boy and teenager, he did a lot of farm work to help his family. At age 47, he is currently principal of Bluegrass Middle School in Elizabethtown, KY. He truly started at the bottom and was able to achieve much through his intelligence in order to get where he is in his career today. The last member of my family who was there was my grandmother, Bonita. She is Michael’s mother and is 73 years old. She lived in Edmonson County her entire life until moving in with Holly and Michael six months ago. She has a strong Christian faith and although she suffers from polio, she does not let it get her down as she maintains a spunky attitude. She offered another perspective to our group since she is two generations older than most of us.
The next people to be described are people who attend school at WKU. Kinsley came and assisted me in hosting the dinner because we have Honors 251 together. She is a freshman from White House, TN and was raised by military parents. As an honors student, she is a hard worker and considers college to be a full-time job. She is also an avid member of CRU, a Christian group on campus. Her strong faith and kindness cause her to radiate light. Another friend of mine who came is Nichole. She grew up near Florence, KY but later moved to White House, TN. She has done a lot of traveling in her life and gains perspective from other cultures in this way. She enjoys helping others and plans to do so through her career path as a nursing major. The last two people in attendance were Katelyn and Taylor. I had met them a couple times before, but do not know them as well as Kinsley and Nichole. This opportunity allowed me to learn more about them. Katelyn is sophomore honors student studying journalism and tends to be more soft spoken. Her boyfriend, Taylor, is a junior honors student majoring in computer science. He mentioned that he enjoys talking and proved this by adding much to our discussion, typically asserting his conservative values.
Getting into our discussion, we started by discussing the required question: “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” The main consensus was that as citizens, we should be polite to those around us. Holly and Michael also mentioned that part of being a citizen is standing up for how you believe life should be in this country, not only through voting, but through freedom of speech, petition, and press. Considering the fact that they both work in education, this is particularly relevant to them at this time as they have attended rallies and protests to support teachers when the Kentucky state government is cutting funds for their pensions. They also believe a citizen should be well informed when participating in protests such as these. Essentially, we came to the conclusion that citizens should be polite, work together, and contribute to society by utilizing American rights.
The next question we discussed was what kind of community we would like to live in. As residents of southern states, most everyone reiterated that it’s nice to live in a community where people are generally nicer to each other than the stereotypical rudeness of northern states. Bonita pointed out that this is something she has noticed in her lifetime. Taylor also brought up that he believes people should be armed to protect themselves, but that extensive background checks should possibly be made on people who purchase guns. After some deliberation, we agreed we are okay with having a gun locked away safely in people’s houses for the purpose of defense and hunting animals, but that no one should have a military grade weapon. I think what was most important to us all is that we live in a nice and safe community.
Some good responses were made to the question about how each of our jobs relates to our roles as citizens. Holly feels that all citizens should be educated and as a teacher, she does a good job of ensuring that they are. Additionally, I used to work at a Boys and Girls Club where I felt that I was being a good citizen by tutoring young children who may have not had the best home environments. I currently work in retail, where I enjoy interacting with others and helping them find what they need. Nichole also described how she worked in a grocery store and would help people take groceries out to their cars, which is part of being a polite citizen. Overall, we just do our best to help people in our occupations.
Following that, we asked how our religious identities influence how we treat other people. All of us firmly answered yes. Although we may be involved in different denominations of Christianity, we are all Christians. As Christians, we believe that people should treat others the way they would want to be treated. Kinsley mentioned that she thinks of how Jesus would act towards others and how he loved everyone. She is influenced by this and tries to show kindness towards others in her daily interactions. We all agreed that this is how we want to live our lives as well. Tying into that, we discussed our obligations to other people in our country and community. Our religious identities have a huge effect on this. Christians believe that you should serve your fellow beings. This allowed Kinsley and I to refer back to our class discussion about moral obligations and the video we watched of the young Chinese girl who was hit by a car. We decided that we believe we should be like the good samaritan that is described in the bible and help those we have the ability to help. That is our obligation.
These are not all the topics that were discussed that night, but I feel that these were the ones worth mentioning because they all have running themes of our consensus on citizenship. We basically answered the first central question of our class: how do we live better together? Everyone agreed that citizens should be polite, serve others, and be well informed in order to contribute to a nice, safe community. Citizens should not only vote and pay taxes, but stand for what they believe in and engage in solving social issues through the use of their basic rights. This leads to living better together.
Some of our conversation also reminded me of readings we have done in our class. Early on, Holly and Michael mentioned how citizens should be informed about politics and situations they may be advocating for or protesting. This relates back to our class reading of “Green Fire, the Still Point, and an Oak Grove.” In this reading, the college students protested the removal of the oak grove when they thought the trees were wild and had grown there ages ago. In fact, the grove was merely a garden. The students’ ignorance led to blind protests and they were simply seen as egrets fishing through their smeared reflections.
I also thought back to our reading, “If It Feels Right,” when talking about our obligations to others in our community and country. The author, David Brooks, claims that young people no longer have a shared moral framework and may lack moral reasoning abilities. However, I drew from our discussion that the millennials at our table do in fact seem to have shared moral standards. I believe this goes back to everyone’s religious identity because Christians have certain moral obligations in serving and helping others. Thus, not all young people can be said to only do things “if they feel right”. Many millennials were taught core moral values as children and keep them in their hearts, such as the ones in this group.
In conclusion, this experience allowed me to interact with intelligent individuals about the proper way to be a citizen. I was also able to engage with others who have different values than me. For instance, I am a democrat while most of the college students there had conservative views. It was a nice opportunity to deliberate with various people and reach a decision about what citizenship truly entails.

Kentucky’s Kitchen Table: A Reflection on Discomfort

April 17, 2018April 25, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

By Chloe

My name is Chloe and for my Kentucky’s Kitchen Table assignment, I had my meal at a cabin in Stanton, Kentucky. It was held at Bailey’s family cabin in a gated community. We were joined by her mother Barbara, some of her friends that were from Spencer and some that go to Western. Barbara said that she would make all of the food, unless people wanted to bring things. Mhari and Lydia made burgers and hot dogs on the grill, while Shaban made his special spicy-soup-that’s-sometimes-a-sauce. Tiger brought the music and Silas brought his poetry book. I brought the dessert (cookies and cakes from Kroger of course). Also present were Chris and Emily, though they did not bring anything with them besides their personalities. I had never met Chris, Emily, Tiger, and Shaban before this meal.
Lydia is from Louisville and she went to the Brown School. She is a sophomore at Western. She went there for most of her life, as it is a kindergarten through twelfth grade school. Her mom is a guidance counselor at Presentation Academy and her dad works on a boat. Lydia says that she gets her creativity from her dad and her sass from her mom. They live in a big green house with one cat. Lydia has many tattoos, though most of them don’t mean anything; she just thought they were pretty.
Mhari and Tiger are both from Oldham County where they went to high school together. Lydia says, “They’re not dating but they’re also not not dating. Ya know?” Mhari and Tiger are both juniors at Western. Mhari smells perpetually of vanilla and cardamom and has a loud infectious laugh that makes one feel included and warm. Tiger is quieter and subtler, but he’s profoundly witty once you can hear what he is saying. His family is of Asian descent, and he has proudly dubbed himself the “coolest Asian any of you all know.” Both of them wear old glasses that are now too big for their heads because they have been stretched out but they both also refuse to get them fixed.
Shaban grew up in Virginia but he was born in a small country in Africa. When asked which country, he replies, “You won’t know what it is. No American has ever heard of it.” He speaks with a faint accent that comes out more when asked about his childhood. He loves NPR, green pants, and funky sweaters. His best friend, Morgan, is in Denmark right now studying at The Danish School and he speaks of her often.
Silas was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. His house sits on a plot of land that used to be a Christmas tree farm and he says that they are still everywhere, growing in neat rows. His mom was a school teacher before she retired and decided to homeschool him. He went to high school with other kids who had been homeschooled their whole lives too. Mhari and Lydia say that Silas has the purest heart of anyone they know. He is soft spoken and agreeable, calm and fun. He says that he used to have long thick hair before he cut it over the winter break while he was in Israel.
Chris is from the suburbs of Chicago and is a freshman at Western. Bailey and Emily are both from Spencer. Bailey goes to Western but Emily is still in high school. Bailey’s mom Barbara has short greying hair that she refuses to dye, much to her daughter’s protest. She enjoys watching British baking shows and assorted cartoons. She is clever and sharp.
Silas had brought a book of poetry with him and Tiger started reading some of the poems aloud to us as we were making dinner and preparing the table. Many of the poems were gloomy and dark, but they were certainly thought provoking. It was a book that seemed to be a lot about loving people, living amongst people and leaving people. It had themes of self-worth, inner strength, identity and false love. Everyone seemed to have incredibly different thoughts about them, though we all certainly agreed that the book was a bit of a downer. The girls seemed to have more opinions and thoughts about the ones related to self-worth and inner strength. We talked about how much beauty is drilled into girls’ brains from the very start and how damaging it is. Lydia is tall and thin and was told quite often that she has the body of a model, but was also told by boys that she didn’t have enough curves to be appealing. Mhari was told the opposite; she has too many curves to be appealing. Neither one could change their body, short of surgery, yet still had to listen to these things be said to them. It’s hard to love your appearance and feel worthy of much when people are telling you that the way that you were born is not good enough. No one has control over how they naturally look. I didn’t ask to be short, Lydia didn’t ask to be rail thin, and Mhari didn’t ask to be curvy, yet that’s what we all use to base our confidence on. It’s hard to find balance in it all when there’s so many kinds of bodies and looks but there only seems to be one kind of perfect.
We all agreed that the book was an odd contrast to Silas’s personality, which is generally light and pleasant. It’s a weird thing to think about the differences between what people think and what they actually say out loud to other people. I wasn’t sure if this was an instance in which Silas was reading the book because he wanted to expose himself to thinking that doesn’t really coincide with his own, or if he chose the book because the thinking does coincide with his own.
When I asked the group about their thoughts on the meaning of citizenship, Shaban was perhaps the most passionate. He was the only one out of the bunch that is not a natural born American citizen and you only have to speak with him for a short time to realize that he is incredibly proud of his heritage. He was born in Africa, but he didn’t live there long and America is what he knows best. He believes that citizenship goes beyond documents and regulations and dives deeper into passion. To him, citizenship is how one feels about their country. Documents are necessary but so is genuine love and appreciation. The rest of us at the meal can’t ever fully understand what he was saying to us because we have never experienced what he has. We, as natural born citizens in an incredibly fortunate country, take for granted so many things: grocery stores, indoor plumbing, cars, electricity. Obviously, I know that my life has been a cotton candy cloud compared to people living in third world countries and impoverished places. This wasn’t a new revelation to me but it was still a jarring experience. It’s always weird to be hit in the face with your own privilege. I take so much for granted, as many people do, because we haven’t ever had to live differently. I will never go hungry or lack electricity for years, but Shaban has. He got out of that and he came to America. Now that he’s here, he faces entirely different problems. I will never get pulled over by a police officer based upon the color of my skin or be discriminated against because of the way that I speak, but Shaban has. American people meet him and make up their minds about him without even really knowing him. Why bother coming to a new country when people there are going to treat you terribly? You have to choose between two evils. At least here you can survive, though you won’t always be treated respectfully. You choose survival so you can be around people that are terrible to you. How is that okay? It’s not, but it seems to be reality right now.
How can we live better together? Maybe we could start by not being racist. How do we do that? How do we change the minds of people that have it so ingrained in their brains that they are superior because of the color of their skin? We moved on from this topic to talk about where we live, our neighbors, what we want to do with our lives, and so many other things but I really got stuck on this first topic. I couldn’t move past it. I just wanted to grab all of the people that have ever been terrible to people of different races and shake them. Why are you like this? Why do you believe this to be true? I don’t think that any of them would have been able to give me an answer I was okay with, and maybe that’s what I want. I don’t want an answer I’m okay with because then I have to forgive them and stop being angry. Obviously, that goes against everything that we’ve learned in this class this semester. We can’t live better together or have more of a say over our lives if we’re so blinded by anger that we can’t even see straight.
The whole time Shaban was talking, I kept thinking about Claudia Rankine and Citizen. Rankine wrote about little micro-aggressions that she’s dealt with her whole life. People talking to her in “black talk” or saying stupid things that they didn’t mean to say out loud. Things that I don’t and won’t ever have to deal with, but she deals with every day. I don’t know if I’m really allowed to be angry about them on her behalf but I am.

Throughout Honors 251, we have talked about social issues and wicked problems. We talk about the things that no one wants to talk about and the things that people don’t know that they should be talking about. It has been eye opening in that it has forced me to not only see the point of view of others but also figure out how I myself feel about things. I have avoided thinking about heavy things for the longest time because they generally seem to bum me out or make me anxious. Having to do this dinner and this assignment was wonderful because I met new people who are very different than I am but I also got to know some of my friends better than I did before and it forced me to think about things that I don’t usually like to think about. I think that everyone should be forced to confront the things that make them uncomfortable because that is when you really seem to figure out who you are and what you believe.

Shaban’s special “spicy-soup-that’s-sometimes-a-sauce” : chicken edition

Making dinner on the grill! (Left to Right) Tiger, Lydia, Mhari, Silas, Emily

Kentucky’s Kitchen Table: From a Smalltalk Conversation to a Deliberative Engagement:

April 17, 2018April 17, 2018 / CitizenAndSelf / Leave a comment

By Alex

The Kentucky Kitchen Table I hosted took place in Liberty (the seat of Casey County), Kentucky. Liberty is a very small town located 30 miles south of Danville, Kentucky, a town most people have heard of unlike my actual hometown. The diner consisted of 7 people all from my hometown, who had differing opinions on several of the topics discussed.

Scott and Jamie, my parents, have lived in Liberty their entire lives and both attended Western Kentucky University for their college educations, but have differing opinions on several issues and topics, that will be discussed further along in this paper. Scott works for the Kentucky Transportation Department, and though I may be biased, is one of the hardest working people I have ever met, shaping some of his beliefs. Jamie is a teacher, who loves her job and the students she works with.

Adam and Andrew, my brothers, are currently enrolled in the Casey County School System, and are both athletes, which takes up a large amount of their time. Andrew is in 6^th grade currently, and knows little about politics, freedoms, and other aspects of the United States, but was eager to learn during the conversation. Adam is a Sophomore in high school who recently tuned 16 years old, but has little interest in politics and similar topics, and focuses mostly on athletics, so his contribution to the conversation was interesting.

Lauren is currently enrolled at Western Kentucky University, and is one year away from a bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders and plans to become a Speech Language Pathologist. She is also from my hometown, so I thought it would be interesting to include her into our conversation. And Lastly, Lexi is a junior at Casey County high school, and a friend of my brother. I had never really talked to her outside of the Kentucky’s Kitchen Table discussion we had, and her various opinions were interesting and helped maintain conversation.

Our conversation started simply, with the following question; other than voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you? Responses weren’t immediate, and everyone at the table took some time to think before responding. Finally, Lauren sparked conversation by mentioning that it citizenship includes all the rights and responsibilities that come with living in the United States of America. This answer sparked the conversation, as I simply asked everyone around the table what some of those rights and responsibilities could possibly include, looking for a particular answer. Everyone listed off certain things they thought were rights, such as having a job and paying income taxes, along with earning an income and being able to make a living, but no one seemed to reach the answer I was hoping for. Finally, I chipped in to help everyone see the point I was attempting to make; As an American Citizen, we can all attempt to engage with one another on certain issues to solve different types of problems.

Before moving on to other questions, I thought it was important to explain the main points of our Honors 251 class at WKU. I explained to my guests that wicked problems surrounded the world today, giving the technical definition along with several examples I will mention later on. After this, I mentioned that the technique of deliberative engagement was very important to help solve wicked problems and help come up with practical solutions that had more benefits than disadvantages.

After mentioning wicked problems, I decided to ask the question, “What social issues are closest to your heart and why,” hoping to reach a wicked problem and discuss how deliberation can help in maintaining a neutral and helpful attitude when solving them. Jamie quickly answered, with the support of Lexi, Adam, and Andrew. Since they are all in the school environment, the several issues in the United States surrounding gun control and how to stop school shootings. I asked Jamie what she thought of the situation, along with how to help reduce the amount of school shootings, and her response was very set in stone. She believed that the number of guns in the United States was way too high, and that gun control should be enacted to help reduce shootings. Scott quickly responded with the opposite answer of hers, making several points that taking guns only works if you can remove all weapons from United States citizens, but the number of illegal weapons not in circulations makes that impossible, putting responsible American’s who would potentially turn in their weapons at harm.

The gun control debate went on, until I mentioned that my Honors 251 class had a very similar discussion. Going off of the Honors Discussion, I asked my family to think of different options, with pros and cons, that could help the gun control situation. After holding my own mock deliberation around the dinner table, my family quickly realized something that I learned early from practicing deliberative engagement. They learned that though people have severely differing opinions on the same issue, they are not necessarily wrong.

To ease the tension of discussion the touchy subject of gun control, I asked more questions with hope to get a better sense of everyone’s opinion at the table. Taking another page from the class in order to get everyone to have an input of the conversation, I asked everyone around the table to give an answer to the following question: What is the thing you love most about where you live? Adam answered first, saying he really liked where he lived because of his friends and how often they got together. Lexi responded similarly, that she enjoyed how close everyone was in Casey County. Scott and Jamie both responded that they loved being able to live very close to their families and friends. Andrew mentioned that it was simply home for him, and Lauren joked (though it is true) that it was the only place in the world that she did not need a GPS to travel. Each answer had the same underlying theme, it was familiar, more familiar than anywhere else.

One of the last questions I asked everyone around the table was if they thought this conversation was important, and if they felt we had accomplished something from our Kentucky Kitchen table. Andrew and Adam both said no jokingly, and admitted it was more interesting than expected. Lexi and Lauren both were happy to have been included, and mentioned that the discussion was intriguing and interesting, and said that they would work to realize others opinions were not wrong but just different than their own. Scott and Jamie both admitted that the conversation was much different than they were expecting, being it was mandatory from a college class I was taking and were very happy to have been able to participate and communicate on issues, while also agreeing to look at some future discussions differently than past ones.

During this Kentucky Kitchen table, I learned several things. One of the first things I learned is that even though Scott and Jamie are the same age and have lived relatively similar lives, they each had differing opinions on certain topics. These opinions weren’t massively different for every question I asked, but overall their answers differed from one another. Another important thing I learned was that talking to people from your hometown doesn’t have the same effect as talking to people from different areas. For example, the people at my Kentucky Kitchen table are lacking what I have gained from Honors 251. Where my Kentucky Kitchen table consisted of people all from my hometown, Honors 251 is full of people from all over Kentucky and other areas and has allowed me to talk with those who have very different opinions from my own. As highlighted briefly above, I learned quickly that having differing opinions doesn’t mean that someone is wrong, and that talking to those you disagree with is an effective way to solve problems.

Throughout Honors 251, I have learned several new key principles that have already began to help me in real world conversations and in disagreements with others. The class has highlighted how important communication with others is to solving real-world problems, and has allowed me to realize that conversation is key to bettering the world we live in. My Kentucky Kitchen table kept reminding me of the reading we did early in this semester by Keith Melville, “How We Talk Matters.” I’m sure my family did not initially want to spend their dinner while I was home from college talking about what they thought was going to be a forced discussion brought on by a college course they did not know much about, but as the conversation trekked on everyone at the table became more interested and alert to the topics at hand and became more and more talkative. This helped me realize that a lot of the problem in the world today aren’t because the world today is in a worse shape than it has been in the past, but because the people of the world refuse to communicate on the issues at hand. People now would rather their opinions be considered right than to solve the topic at hand, and the beginning of my Kentucky Kitchen table embodied just that, but as the conversation went on, more open-mindedness began to occur, and our dinner better represented what the world so eagerly needs; common ground and respectful conversation.

Kentucky's Kitchen Table

Author: CitizenAndSelf