Political division is a problem. The Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair has proposed a solution

The day after the Democratic National Convention ended, a German colleague and I drove east from Nashville to Lebanon, Tennessee to attend the Wilson County – TN State Fair.

After weeks of media coverage before, during and after political party conventions in a turbulent presidential election, we needed a break from the polarizing rhetoric.

That meant eating corn dogs and fried Oreos in 90-degree heat.

The fair, which ran from August 15 to 24, is an extravaganza that includes amusement park rides, a Ferris wheel, racing piglets, live music, monster trucks and an assortment of fried foods.

It’s a celebration of community, family, friends and agriculture. Remember: Tennessee’s motto is “Agriculture and Commerce.”

The event has a quaint side, but over the years that I have attended, I have seen the number and diversity of visitors to the fair grow.

In fact, the 2024 edition set a record with over 860,000 people in attendance.

Going to the fair with a stranger was both an eye-opening and humiliating experience.

I’ve attended the fair four times in the decade I’ve lived in the Volunteer State — the last three times with visiting Germans working in the Tennessean newsroom on the Burns Fellowship from the International Center for Journalists.

Our 2024 Burns Fellow, Angela Gruber, a journalist at the publication Der SPIEGEL, arrived in Nashville in late July and has already written several columns on politics and culture, ranging from cryptocurrency to cat videos.

She and her predecessors, Johanna Roth and Tatjana Heid, had never experienced anything like the Wilson County Fair, which merged with the Tennessee State Fair in 2021 and 2022.

Gruber’s wide-eyed curiosity about nearly every exhibit, food booth and animal enclosure provided an outsider’s perspective on the specialness of this place and what it means for the ability of Americans of different backgrounds to share common experiences with joy, kindness and respect.

It’s not just about This fair; it’s about Americans taking the time to go out and see each other, hear each other and get to know each other.

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That night, I took a Lyft to a venue in East Nashville, and the driver, a Tennessee native, shared fond memories of his childhood going to the fair with his family.

Political opposites can marry and coexist in society too

On Sunday, I read an article in The Tennessean Weekend Exclusive about a St. Louis, Missouri, couple who are politically divided.

Samantha Miller is a Democrat, but her husband Andy Miller is a Republican.

Despite their differences, they agree on many topics and remain open-minded. However, they also hold each other accountable when they unintentionally criticize the other party in a social media post.

It requires intentionality and discipline in an age when noise and anger dominate the nature of politics.

I share this story because it gives hope that respect, boundaries and love can overcome political divisions.

Angela Gruber and I saw the best of America at the Wilson County State Fair in Tennessee, where people deliberately chose to be among strangers.

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The most controversial decision that day was whether to slather our corn dogs with ketchup or mustard. (I’m on Team Mustard.)

Democracy is complicated and requires daily participation

In a way, Angela has become for me a modern-day Alexis de Tocqueville, on the 19th^th 19th-century French diplomat and philosopher who visited the United States and wrote his observations in “On Democracy in America.”

He highlighted things that we Americans sometimes take for granted about our democratic republic.

Sometimes Americans have to step out of their comfort zone to do politics better.

For those hoping this election will just be over, don’t rush and waste this time.

There are many more days ahead to get to know our neighbors and have experiences and conversations with them that allow us to see our collective humanity.

It is easy to get lost, to get worked up in echo chambers and to marvel at the thinking of our political opponents.

But being an American citizen is not just about screaming at your television or smartphone and waiting for Election Day to cast your ballot. It is about actively participating, on a daily basis, in a sometimes chaotic process.

Sometimes we need a break from the hustle and bustle and it’s perfectly normal to go to a fair to admire a baby alpaca, eat a corn dog and enjoy the sounds of adults and children having fun on roller coasters.

Editor’s Note: While the Wilson County – TN State Fair has passed, more county fairs are coming. Check out the Dickson County Fair (https://www.dicksoncountyfair.com) and Maury County Fair (https://maurycountyfair.com), both running August 29-September 2. The Nashville Fair (https://www.nashfair.fun) runs September 6-15 at the Fairgrounds Nashville.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is a member of The Tennessean’s editorial board. He hosts the Tennessee Voices video conference and manages the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at [email protected] or find him on X at @davidplazas

This article was originally published on Nashville Tennessean: Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair needed a break from politics