How would you approach persuading a far extreme conservative toward center? What would you set as a realistic goal for a productive discourse? Would it be better attempt to do so in person rather than online?

  • linearchaos@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    There was a black blues singer years ago that lived in Klan country.

    He made friends with klansman and got them slowly over the years to denounce and hand in their robes. One of the people he convinced was actually a grand wizard IIRC.

    There are a lot of people out there that will listen to a radio show where someone is saying that minorities in a given town are eating everyone’s pets and they’ll take that as gospel.

    If you lead them by the hand introduce them to a family that’s willing to help change their mind have them watch the food be cooked and break bread their initial response is going to be this is a good family, But it’s not going to make them immediately go maybe most families are good. The programming’s very hard to overcome. Generally, prejudice does not survive repeated positive contacts with the targets.

    The brother of a long-term friend of mine got fired from a Union State job by being racist. Almost the entire staff was minority. His view was that the entire race was lazy because his staff of Union minority workers for a state job or putting in the minimum effort required. Meanwhile the state is paying the minimum amount they can offering workers near immunity for their actions. Even before you account for the union, You’re not going to end up with a wonder team providing free overtime.

    It’s likely with his experience he will never be deprogrammed. Of course his entire life has been a series of very bad decisions, most of which he blames on everyone else.

    And exposure is not always enough. There are plenty of 100% racist inner city police officers that are exposed to minorities all the time. It’s like you almost have to drag a racist kicking and screaming to challenge their own propaganda worldview.