African-American Man Convinces Klansmen to Leave the KKK through Friendship

 

 

My Buddhist teacher, the Venerable Urgyen Sangharakshita, has said that anyone can be friends with anyone, that this is his religion and that he would rather die than give it up.  

This may well be true, but I don'r necessarily think this is a good thing.  I have strong feelings about explaining racism to white people.  And yet, I find this story very inspiring.  This is challenging some of my opinions, assumptions and views. 

An African American man by the name of Daryl Davis decided he wanted to go along to Klan rallies and meetings, befriend Klan members and teach them not to be racist.  So he did.  

Unlike Ron Stallworth, the person Spike Lee focused on in his film BlackkKlansman, it was not his job.  He was not an undercover police officer.  He was just someone who wanted to make a difference. 

I personally would not have seen the point in doing this.  But Davis states that 200 Klan members have left the Klan as a direct result of his befriending them.  Food for thought.  As I say, I find this truly inspiring. 

This just goes to show that anyone can make a difference.  One person can make a huge difference. 

It's amazing what communication can do.  Go here for more about Nonviolent Communication (NVC).  This is not to say that Daryl Davis uses NVC.  But what he is doing clearly works.  

What are your thoughts?  Please post below.  

See also:  The Black Man Who Attends Klan Rallies. 

 

The KKK in Colorado

 

According to this short film, the Ku Klux Klan have infiltrated all areas of public life in Colorado, including politics, education and health.  This has been going on for many years.  Who knew?

Far-right white supremacist groups are on the rise in the U.S.A.  

While it is important to be aware of this, it is more important for us to dwell on the positives.  The Law of Increase states that whatever we dwell on increases.  Whatever we focus on expands.  Therefore, we need to focus on our own power.  

Those of us who are conscious frequently dwell on the negatives, on our history, which is full of trauma and has been for the past 500 years.  But we are a glorious people.  Our history need not define us or our future. 

The world reflects our thoughts, feelings and emotions.  If we dwell on the positives and what we are striving to achieve, nothing and no one can hold us back.  

See also:  How to Get the Results We Want.  

Please share this with your networks.  

What are you focusing on right now - the negatives or the positives?  Please post below.  

White Women's Role in White Supremacy

I don't often blog specifically about white supremacy, as I think it is important to focus on the positive.  However, white supremacy is all around us - and inside of us - and we need to understand it.  

This is a very interesting article about white women's role in white supremacy, both historic and current.  White women were among the architects of white supremacy.  Until they won the right to vote, white women's main economic power came through their ability to own, buy and sell enslaved African people.  

After the Civil War, white women joined, and were active in, the Ku Klux Klan.  And, of course, Birth of a Nation contributed to the mythology of the Klan as a necessary protection of white women from Black men who were keen, and naturally inclined, to attack them sexually.  In the film Freedom Riders, some of the participants speak of the involvement of white women in assaulting the riders. 

According to this article, white women also played an active role in the recent storming of the Capitol building, in which five people died, and they are active, and play key roles, in white supremacist organisations. 

What are your thoughts about the role of white women in white supremacy?  Please leave your comments below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

Go here for more Black history blogs.  

 

The Black Man Who Attends Klan Rallies

I am sure you have heard about Spike Lee's new film, BlacKkKlansman.

In this TED talk, Daryl Davis talks about forming a friendship with a Klan leader.  He didn't do it because it was his job. Unlike Ron Stallworth, the author of BlacK Klansman: A Memoir and subject of Spike Lee's film, Daryl Davis was not an undercover police officer.  

Davis was fascinated with finding out how, and why, people hate others whom they don't even know.  So he approached the Klan. 

This TED talk shows that true friendship can form between people who come from conflicting ideologies, even the white supremacist ideology of the Klan. 

Daryl Davis has proven that, although we stronngly disagree, we can have mutual respect for one another.  And we can connect with, and form friendships with, anyone. 

See also:  Spike Lee Wants Us to Respect Our White Allies.  

Please leave your comments below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

Go here for the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence.