Political discourse was in full display Wednesday afternoon during Westminster College's 14th Hancock Symposium.
Westminster alum and new member of the Missouri House of Representatives Ian Mackey spoke in a crowded classroom to introduce himself and start a discussion regarding this year's symposium theme, "Breakthrough." Mackey, a Democrat, wanted all voices across the political spectrum to be included in the discourse.
"I want us to have a dialogue and a back-and-forth here. It's OK if we are monolithic political thinkers in here, but I hope we can mix it up with different ideological points of view as well," Mackey said.
In November 2018, Mackey was elected to the 87th House District of Missouri, which is part of St. Louis County. Mackey had to convince the voters in his district why he's the best fit despite hailing from Hickory County.
"I told folks, 'look, you need a representative for St. Louis County who is not from St. Louis County,'" Mackey explained. "'You need a representative who's from the Ozarks and rural Missouri who's going to go to Jefferson City and negotiate and work with a party who is controlled by rural conservative Missourians."
This tactic ultimately worked for Mackey, and he hopes this new dynamic between his rural roots and an urban area can help both sides better understand one another. He challenged the crowd on numerous occasions to openly challenge him if they disagreed with him on subjects.
Audience members brought up points regarding President Donald Trump, political polarization, reproductive rights and much more. Through the civil discourse, Mackey brought up a key theory to go along with his discussion, "downward social comparison."
"(The theory) goes, 'I am where I am because I have kept those who are worse off where they are,'" Mackey said.
Mackey said he believes this theory is pretty commonly used in America and is what holds people back from breaking through to equitable levels of society. Mackey, an openly gay man, said he caught himself perpetuating the theory when he was in high school and while the target of harassment.
"I wanted to make sure when people were calling me the 'f-word' that I could turn around and call somebody else a bad word and make them feel in a worse position than hopefully I was in," he said.
Instead of doing this, Mackey was able to find his breakthrough by starting his higher education in Fulton and continuing it through law school at Suffolk University in Boston. He said he can better navigate politics and partisan disagreements with his variety of experiences and identities throughout Missouri.
This article was edited at 11:32 a.m. Sept. 19, 2019, to correct identification of the district Mackey represents.