Daryl Davis opened the door and offered to shake Mr. Kelly's hand. Daryl was black, and Mr. Kelly? Well, he was the head of the KKK.
Daryl is a musician, but he spent a large part of his life meeting KKK members to understand "how could they hate him when they don't even know him." Over the years, he helped over 200 KKK members surrender their robes. Mr. Kelly also gave up his robe after forming a lasting friendship with Daryl.
Well, how did he do it? Daryl just listens well. When the other side of the table tells him how inferior his skin is, he doesn't say anything back because his objective is to understand the other side; not to prove them wrong.
In an interview last week, Daryl mentioned that too many people focus on solving systemic racism, which requires a top-down approach. And not enough people are taking a bottom-up approach by listening to their adversaries with respect.
I think it's a beautiful message, and it's something I can definitely practice more. The problem is that I rarely practice this because I don't think about racism frequently.
So the idea for this week is to turn Daryl's lessons into a startup that helps regular people learn the skills to help curb racism.
This is a startup that shows people how to listen respectfully. The startup will feature interviewers who talk with racist members of our society and share those conversations with the community. After the discussions, the interviewers will commentate on the process and show how they brought down defensive walls to induce an understanding and productive conversation.
The interviewers aren't convincing someone to abandon their beliefs. Instead, they will show viewers how to listen and seed cognitive dissonance into the interviewee's head. This dissonance is what helps them leave hate groups.
The startup makes money by using the celebrity monetization models found on Twitch and Patreon. I think people would pay for these "lessons" because these skills are highly transferrable, and the concept is just entertaining. I'd pay to see how someone leaves the KKK.
I love this idea because it directly tackles racism and inspires others to do the same.
These consistent videos help much better than a one-off Ted talk because they can improve people's listening skills over time.
The startup also confronts cancel culture by educating people on how to have constructive conversations. It trains audiences to look for solutions instead of telling themselves: "you're not worth my time."
If a black musician can convince white supremacists to leave the KKK, then I believe that most people can replicate his success.
Like in all startups, this first solution might not solve the problem. So if you have any ideas of your own, I'd love to hear about it, and we can write a part 2. Until next week!
- Curtis
P.S. Here is the part in the interview where Daryl mentions that solving individual racism requires a bottom-up approach youtu.be/VKcf8Z_01aI?t=2287
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