White Allies: Your Anger Belongs in the Streets, Not at Home
A five-step process for persuading white friends and family with compassion, not contempt.
Calling people racist won’t change hearts and minds, but conversations about racism can. If you want to make a difference, persuade your white peers with respectful dialogue. Here’s how.
As a black racial dialogue specialist, I pay a lot of attention to how white people talk with each other about race and racism. From what I see on social media, a lot of white progressives— folks who are doing a great job marching with my brothers and sisters of color — are having some really bad conversations with their more conservative white friends and family. Not only are these dialogues unpersuasive, but they are making it harder for the white community to get past racism denial.
The current moment is a tremendous opportunity for shifting how white folks see racism. Some big changes are already happening, but to fully leverage the moment, white allies need to do better in these conversations. Unfortunately, right now folks are making a lot of mistakes because they don’t know how persuasive dialogue works.
