So whattya say to a racist? No, it’s not the first line in some joke...we may need to be prepared!
A diary by Sidof79 was a thoughtful consideration of how progressives might deal with the Trump supporters after the election, even if Trump himself is gone from the scene. SO79 pointed out that these supporters are going to be around for awhile, maybe even a long while, and proposed that it probably won’t be enough to shout “you’re a racist bigot” and walk away.
It’s possible that we may be faced with developing some sort of strategy to figure out how to cope with a significant swathe of the population who embrace racism. There were some good comments to the diary that considered how to handle the situation as well.
It is difficult to know what to say to someone whose ideas and rhetoric are so hateful. It’s easy to think that we shouldn’t say anything. Sometimes, we shouldn’t. (Or, at least, sometimes I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t say anything!)
But, with this diary in mind, I read a story on Medium.com that considered the question of what to say and what effect it might have. The experience of the writer of the story may not help much in a conversation with a stranger, or even with someone who is deeply entrenched in their racism. But it did suggest some ways of talking about this sensitive topic with people we care about who may be, just might be, open to considering their attitudes of hate.