Accidental Courtesy — The Most Important Documentary Of This Century
I don’t know about you but to me, it smells like conflict is in the air. There’s a conflict around every corner. A tweet, a post, or a forward, anything could be a reason to find an enemy. Tell me, if this has happened to you too, you’ve found a really problematic idea held by a colleague, friend, or heck, even family too. In these conditions, how can one even think of peace on this world? If you too are wondering about it, then I’ve got something for you to see.
Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race, and America
Daryl Davis is a black jazz musician who engages KKK members in a friendly manner. Over time, it has lead to incredibly dramatic results like heads of various KKK branches leaving the Klan and surrender their robes to him as a token.
“Let’s say you and 20 people have this group that is anti-racist and all you do is talk about how bad racism is. What good is that group doing? All you doing is preaching to the choir. If you and I agree, I am not accomplishing anything by trying to convince you of which you already know. The way you resolve that is, you invite somebody to the table who disagrees with you so you’ll understand why they have that point of view. Then, perhaps, you’ll figure out the solutions to dissuade their fears”
While the movie parallelly recognizes the contribution of the black people to America, it introduces various people in this conversation about the race. There’s a lawyer who pursues Klan and legally compels them to disband or pay for the damages to the society. There are musicians who integrated white and black people before anyone. There are Museum curators who explain the history. And there’s one Frank Ancona, who states his belief that for America to survive it needs to be under the White-Christian rule. This feels close to home a lot of people I know believe for India to survive, it should be under a Hindu rule. He gives Daryl an official certificate of friendship.
The documentary shows many incredible successes of Daryl’s approach. One Klan person says he respects this black man more than white niggers. Over time, he leaves the Klan coz he no longer identifies with it. One former Klan member credits Daryl for her and her daughter renouncing Klan and makes an admission — She as a parent almost destroyed her. In my 8 years of arguments on the Facebook, I’m yet to see an argument that makes the opposite person admit their shortcomings to this degree.
But my attention was grabbed by a success story that spilled outside the documentary. In the documentary, he’s confronted by ‘Black Lives Matter’ activists Tariq Toure, Kwame Rose, and J.C. Faulk. It’s an extremely hostile conversation. One may even understand their anger at a black man making friends with Klan members and their heads. This must have seemed like the ultimate betrayal. The conversation gets so heated up, they refuse to even shake hands with Daryl while leaving. (Video Below)
If the video is too long for you, you can see their twitter feed to see what they felt about him.
A year later, there was another tweet. This time all of them posed for a photograph together. They were having an extremely peaceful conversation and seemed much more respectful towards each other. (Links: Part-1, Part-2)
Currently, the popular way of addressing pressing issues is to insult the opposite person. I admit it was my approach too. I admit it also feels good to insult people, feels like you’re calling out the truth in a largely dishonest world. This would make people see the error of their ways and join us.
Over time, I’ve arrived at an opinion that I myself would rather not be with a person like that. Then, how can a person be on my side? Whether you’re aligned with left or right, conservative or liberal, or whatever floats your boat. Check this documentary out to have a better quality of conversation.
P.S: If you’re more interested in this approach. Here are a few links you can check out: