National Citizens Panel Concludes Its Work with Dignity Awards

 
 

Panelists Reflect on Ten Months of

Scoring Speech for Dignity or Contempt

UNITE, the non-profit founded by Tim Shriver to ease the country’s divisions, today announced its Dignity Awards – singling out some of the most memorable dignity statements scored in 2024. 

“The National Citizens Panel, representing the range of political and cultural viewpoints in the country, has validated a key premise of the Dignity Index,” said Shriver, a co-creator of the Index. “It’s shown that people can get beyond their biases and see the contempt coming from their own side and see the dignity coming from the other side -- and see the value to the country of choosing dignity over contempt.”

After casting their votes for their favorite dignity passages, the panelists offered reflections on the work of the panel over the course of the year.

  • A panelist in the middle wrote, “… anytime someone dares challenge the status quo, you become a target. I’m proud of …. the opportunity to be part of the challenge.”

  • A panelist in the middle wrote, “it has made me more aware of the way I speak to others and how I feel about the way politicians speak to us.” 

  • A panelist on the left wrote, “There is sadness in my heart that it has come to an end, but there is also hope, because I know this has had a positive impact on those with an open mind.

  • A panelist in the middle wrote, “I hope to see this index covered and used by the media, as I feel the way political opponents treat each other isn’t covered enough. 

  • A panelist on the right wrote, “I’m going to miss this. But I’m not going to miss some of the shocking quotes of hatred that I couldn’t believe people thought it was okay to write or say.”

  • A panelist on the right wrote, “I wish we as a people could be like this in more situations. Dignity over contempt every day!”

  • A panelist on the left wrote, “The hardest part of this project has been putting my own views to the side, but I managed to do so, and in doing so, saw some flaws within my own party that I’d previously been unwilling to acknowledge.”

The National Citizens Panel was created in early 2024 after prior exercises with the Index proved encouraging and UNITE wanted to put the Index to a bigger test. Could the Index offer a common vocabulary and a common value that would allow people from opposing viewpoints to keep speaking up for what they believe in and ease the political divisions in the country?

“The National Citizens Panel is actually testing the question: “Is the United States of America a viable proposition?” said Tom Rosshirt, co-creator of the Index. “Can a country of breathtaking diversity and passionate difference create a society that allows everyone to flourish? If so, how many values do we need to share to sustain this society?”

“We believe the answer is one. If we agree that each person deserves to be treated with dignity, we can work out every other disagreement,” said Rosshirt. “And we believe the work of the panel shows that support for dignity transcends difference.”

“As Donna Hicks has said, ‘When contempt tears us apart, dignity can bring us together.’ And this is true everywhere, in our families, our workplaces, our communities, and in our country.”

DIGNITY AWARDS

Panelists were provided a selection of five passages from each political party that they have scored in the past year to rank, and these were the results:

 
 

First Place

Corey Booker & Peter Yu

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What is patriotism if not love of country? And you cannot love your country unless you love your countrymen and women. We don't have to agree with each other all the time, and we don't have to like each other all the time, but love says, 'I see you. I see your worth. I see your dignity.' We are in an election season now, and the rhetoric is already getting outrageous. We weren’t designed as a nation for one political party to completely thwart and end the other. I know, as an American who happens to be a Democrat, that the 70-plus million people who voted for Donald Trump are not my enemy. They belong to me; we belong to each other. We need each other.
Cory Booker
Democratic Senator from NJ in a video on X talking about this election season.
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And to the Democrats, you are always welcome at the table to make sure we find commonality. We need to remember that at the end of the day, we need to put away our disagreements. To make sure we remember that we are friends, we are families, and we are neighbors, and that we are all Americans.
Peter Yu
Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in Colorado, addressing Democrats during his closing statement in a Colorado Republican Primary Debate.
 

Second Place

Ruben Gallego and Alyssa Farah Griffin

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We worked to earn every vote. And we didn't write off our Republican brothers and sisters either. For 22 months, I've traveled all around this state. The thing I learned is that we have so much in common. Because whether you're a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, we all want the same thing, a better life for our kids, and to give our kids a better future. It's just that simple.
Ruben Gallego
Democratic candidate leading the Senate race in Arizona in a declared victory speech on Election night.
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I worked on Capitol Hill for Republicans. We would work on policy, we would work in committee hearings, we would be fighting with the Democrats, but we would do it respectfully. At the end of the day, we'd get a beer with each other and we would be able to say, like, listen, we have different ideas on border security. That doesn't mean we have to hate each other, [or that] we have to dehumanize each other.
Alyssa Farah Griffin
Referring to her experience partnering with members of the other party while working on Capitol Hill.
 

Third Place

Gretchen Whitmer and Steve Garvey

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We choose the news we consume—content that riles us up, fed to us by an algorithm designed to keep us scrolling. Instead, let’s choose to move forward, together. Let’s chart a better path for our politics. If you see unproductive words designed to tear us apart, call them out, no matter who they come from. Hold each other accountable, even in our own party.
Gretchen Whitmer
Governor of Michigan, in response to a call for unity after political tensions.
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I would like to congratulate Adam Schiff. [crowd boos] Haven't I taught you the Garvey way? Haven't I taught you that we can leave it on the field sometimes?
Steve Garvey
Republican Senate candidate of California in his concession speech.
 
Ashley Guckert