How empathy is helping change a whole community

A friend recently shared with me the Cops and Barbers episode of Crossing the Divide from Freethink. It’s a remarkable story of empathy in action as a barber in Charlotte, NC, Shaun “Lucky” Corbett, set out to bridge the lack of understanding between his community and the cops serving the area.

One person or “side” didn’t have all the answers. They had to work together. Everyone had something to learn.

Instead of perpetuating a vicious cycle of distrust, misunderstanding, and blame, Corbett reached out with empathy and a desire to understand how to engage with cops.

Captain Rob Dance of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department realized empathy needs to go both ways and now actively seeks to understand the people he’s serving.

“I don’t think police can effectively police a community unless they understand who some of the people are that they’re going to be policing. I think we missed that step.” — Captain Rob Dance

“To ease racial tension in America, you gotta go straight at it… It’s our job to get in our communities and dictate what’s going on, we can’t put it all on [cops]… You have to realize your responsibility in your community.” — Shaun “Lucky” Corbett