Oshkosh dad starts ‘Politics in the Park’ for civil conversations

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WBAY) — “Politics in the Park” started with one dad, a sign and a lot of post-election anxiety.

Nikolas DeGroot, a single dad and new political science grad, says post-election anxiety left him wanting to get involved, but he didn’t like his options inside party politics. Since he was already at the park with his son every day, he put up a sign and started inviting strangers to sit and talk.

He says he showed up daily for months and found that most people, whatever their views, are frustrated with politics but don’t actually want a shouting match.

“We can, in fact, disagree about things and hold space for one another,” DeGroot said. “And it doesn’t have to be a full on brawl every time that we talk about something that we don’t agree about.”

DeGroot says his goal is to grow a local “civic commons” in Oshkosh — casual, face-to-face conversations in everyday spaces where neighbors can disagree and still treat each other with respect.