Conducting dialogues in Combating Racism: Every life matters!

 Conducting dialogues in Combating Racism: Every life matters!

Individuals around the world are ready to engage: in dialogues, in protest, in endorsing any policies, in revolution. Tackling the issue of racial equity, requires us to be cognizant and informed of the underlying matters related to it. Creating purposeful and enthusiastic conversation on race helps us to be better prepared in combating injustices. Structured and organized change is obligatory in generating the equality that marginalized sections deserve, and conversations filled with knowledge can be the first footsteps to making that change.

Respect, Reflect, and Resign

It is essential to address the topic of race with respect and dignity. Respect for its heftiness and subtlety. Respect for centuries of agony and exploitation. Respect for numerous outlook and narratives: those that have been uplifted and those that have been thrusted to the background. Respect for the person(s) should be present with whoever we are engaging with. Emerging from a respectful setting that is unrestricted and eager to listen and absorb goes a long way to disperse potential discord before it surfaces, and conserve room for sincere dialogue.

It is important to reflect and acknowledge the rationality and reality of other affairs. By doing so, we can anticipate to have dialogues that are unrestricted and eager to listen and absorb.

Recent occurrences were not exclusively based on sole experience of racism and atrocity; they acted as a turning point for the long chronicle of the past of consistent despotism and inequality. It is important to recognize and understand the connections between events, ideas, and movements.

On our way to present-day knowledge, we have to resign from the setting of comfort and cling on to the discomfort of not having all the solutions. On admitting this, it is crucial to recognize that an eagerness to be educated and well informed is what will help to grow. This is true in life and especially true when it comes to race.

Research and Relearn

Expanding a powerful understanding of race requires a blending of solitary and group learning. All things can be accomplished through offline and online resources. Articles, newspapers, books, academic studies, webinars, and video series are out there just waiting to be uncovered.

The struggle should go beyond personal conversations; this dialogue is only the birth of the attempt to become educated and consider the complex topic of race.

The simple proverb “listen to understand and then speak to be understood” is true in its own aspect. Ingenuous listening takes patience, endurance and effort. Spending minimal time listening is not enough to come up with an answer or response and this doesn't work in addressing racial injustice. It is essential to look for answers to questions that we are unaware of, and be enthusiastic to be educated on topics that we are ignorant about. Genuine listening often results in questions, and Yodit encourages us to embrace this approach: “Never be afraid of questions. They aren't disrespectful. Asking questions shows a willingness to learn and to understand. Those who remain ignorant because they fear questions damage this dialogue.” By asking questions, we are making a conscious effort to make ourselves better. 

Reset and Reboot

New information has to pass through the onslaught of the prevailing worldview. It’s necessary to “change the mind frame so that people can perceive the issue in a brand new way. Facts then provide an important pillar to the new frame, when the facts are connected to broader values and meaning...” One easy way to start internalizing this practice is by recognizing whatever race-based prejudice one might implicitly hold. We all have implicit bias - what will make a distinction is acknowledging these biases and working to deconstruct them. 

Change doesn’t come easily, and active work must be done in order to make a positive impact.

Moving Forward  

“A mind that is stretched by new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

-Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

This process brings about empathy, which is a crucial ingredient of purposeful action.

It is important to recognize the differences that the concept of race brings. Rather than expiating any perception of these diversities, it is essential to acknowledge them. Each person brings a different story, a different experience, and a perspective to the table. By having meaningful dialogues on race that set out as a space for learning and action drafting, one can hope that this dialogue will act as the first step towards change and equality for our future.