Derek Black’s journey sheds light on an individuals' transformation through social change. He was raised in an environment that fed him tales of an abstract threat of minorities to white culture. He was told these ‘beings’ have been growing in the United States at the expense of white communities and white culture. However, unlike the message he was being told by his parents, Derek created a new brand of white nationalism that utilized distorted analysis of statistics and research to prove that minority communities are harmful to our society.
This new type of white nationalism is especially potent to young minds and even older people as it shies away from casual vulgar racism to logical reasoning to justify discriminatory policies and statements (the Alt-Right has developed very nicely to incorporate these values and claims). However, the moment he attended a ‘liberal hotbed of multiculturalism’, a university, he was exposed to minority communities in person. With backlash from the university community, Derek was isolated during this time. He did not participate in university life nor was he analyzing his own privilege either.
This is where we see the power of a dialogue. After being shunned by his classmates at his liberal arts college, one student felt the urge to invite him to a dialogue. This student was from the Jewish community, a community that has always been target by white nationalist movements and even today by the alt-right. After discussing his beliefs with new people different from him, Derek flourished. A fellow classmate helped him realize that he doesn’t feel as strongly about white nationalism as his family or the rest of his followers seem to.
Derek conducted his research and had an internal conversation with himself, in which he would find that he actually doesn’t want to follow this path of life. Dialogue is a perfect avenue to expose individuals to new experiences. It is impossible for me as a male to understand the experiences of a woman fully, but by listening and communicating with my female colleagues, I am exposed to their life experiences. In relation to Derek, his entire life he was only dialoguing with white nationalists, more specifically a community that fear-mongered and grew off of hate on those who were different.
The question remains: Can dialoguing with those who hold these wretched and racist views help them realize that the beliefs they have are racist and dangerous? Honestly, if you are looking for a short-term solution: No. Dialoguing is meant to be an ongoing process where individuals can come to together to discuss different social issues and learn to understand each other and be compassionate.
One or two dinner conversations with your racist relative will never make them change their minds. Dialogue is only effective if it occurs frequently and it is done in a respectful and ethical manner, especially if one is willing to continue the dialogue for the long term.
My time in UMD has exposed me to different types of environments with the goal to foster dialogues, but it often ends up becoming debates or ineffective rants. Debates only serve as a tool to humiliate one side or the other. Other dialogues I have noticed is the participants who should be listening to the dialogue zone off as they are turned off by the ‘rantings’ of those who well-educated and knowledgeable in the social issues being discussed.
The best solution to this conundrum is to facilitate safe spaces where conversations can occur on a regular basis with cluster of students with trained facilitators. These students should be from different backgrounds and identities to allow for more fruitful and effective dialogue about social issues. This is very similar to what Derek Black experienced in college: though it wasn’t a rapid change of weeks or months, rather years of back and forth conversation on his opinions on certain issues, research/educational awareness and establishing friendships with different people and develop a connection to a community he can speak freely to.
