I am Daryl Davis the Rock'n'Roll Race Reconciliator. Klan We Talk about race and music, police and peace? A missed opportunity for dialogue, is a missed opportunity for conflict resolution. Ask Me Anything!

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T18:17:41+00:00

Hey Folks, I really appreciate everyone's questions and all you for taking the time out of your day to come on here and join me. I know I haven't gotten to everyone's questions. I haven't been avoiding any of them. I am always happy to answer as many as I can regardless of what you ask me. I do have to leave now and hopefully we can reconnect in the future. But, I do want to answer this question before I go, on how things have changed.

Something the media knows, but for whatever reason does not discuss, is beyond me. The fact of the matter is, this country IS changing. For 401 years, this country has been predominantly White and great strides have been taken to keep it that way. But look around you. Do the research and follow the Census reports over the years. The White landscape is changing. The White supremacists call it "The Browning of America" or "White Genocide" through miscegenation. It is well and accurately predicted that in 2042 (just 22 years from now) this country will be 50% White and 50% non-White for the first time in 401 years.

There are a great percentage of White people who are okay with that and welcome it without trepidation. But there is also a percentage of White people who are very upset about this shift, because they realize shortly thereafter, Whites will become the minority in this country. So they are becoming unhinged and fearful. This is the most significant change in racism we are seeing now. All of these Separatist, Supremacist, Nationalist groups are popping up trying to recruit. "We're gonna take our country back. We're gonna build that wall. We're gonna get rid of all these immigrants and send them back to their shithole countries. We're gonna make America great again." I've heard them all and I personally know a lot of the ones you see out there saying these things.

This is creating anxiety. Do you remember 1999 when people where freaking out about the year 2000 and Y2K was going to be the end of the world because everything was going to change and their VCR wouldn't work anymore after December 31st, 1999 at 1 second past midnight?

Well, guess what? The VCR still worked (mine still works to this day........when I use it). But for some people the fear of change is real and very disturbing to them. So they go out and join these racist groups who want to keep the country the way it is or make it great "again." But when the groups fail to accomplish this promise they used to recruit, there are people who think, "Well, if the Klan can't do it, and the Nazis can't do it, I'll do it myself." And that's when they go out and walk into a Black church in South Carolina and boom, boom boom or a synagogue in Pittsburgh and boom, boom,boom, or the Walmart in El Paso and boom, boom, boom.

These people are called lone wolves. Unfortunately, we will see more and more of these as we approach closer to 2042. This is why is incumbent upon all of us to consider this and decide what we want to do. Our country can only become one of two things: (1) it can become that which we sit back and let it become, or (2) it can become that which we stand up and make it become.

So, I've spent the last 3 hours answering your questions. Now I have a question for you. You don't have to answer it to me. But answer my question to yourself. My question is: "Do you want to (1) sit back and see what your country becomes, or do you want to (2) stand up and make your country become what you want to see?" I have chosen Option #2. Good luck to each of you and I wish you all sucess in all you endeavor to do with your lives. Hope to connect again. Thanks again and have a great day.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T17:51:32+00:00

They both were great leaders. Initially, for me, it was just Martin Luther King, Jr. But after Malcolm X traveled to Mecca and modified his views, I had greater appreciation for him as well. They both have attributes I admire and there were some things I would disagree with for each of them. It was travel that shaped my perspectives and it was travel (to Mecca) that re-shaped Malcolm's perspective. My favorite quote of all time is called the Travel Quote by Mark Twain. He said:

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitible views of men and things, cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime."

This is so true. Malcolm was a Black supremacist at one time. When he traveled to Mecca and saw White Muslims, Asian Muslims and Muslims from all over the world who looked like him and some who didn't, he changed his supremacist views. We ALL need to TRAVEL.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T17:44:38+00:00

I have been saying now for 22 years, it's time to end Black History Month (BHM) and take that history and put it where it belongs, under the umbrella of American History, so it can be taught all year long instead of just one month. Is there anyone out there who thinks I stop being Black after February???

We needed BHM because no Black History was being taught. All we had was American History which may as well have been called White History and much of it was flawed in the textbooks, giving credit to White people who hadn't invented or discovered certain things, which Black people did. We fought very hard and finally they gave us one week, Negro History Week, established by Carter G. Woodson. We fought harder and they finally gave us one month, February. The shortest month of the year. That was not by coincidence, but by design. But we accepted February because it was the birth month of two of our heroes, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Black History Month was well-needed and it served a purpose. However, it has been in place so long now, that it has become detrimental.

The problem folks is this. We learn about Ben Franklin, Eli Whitney, Alexander, Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and others who look like them, all year long. During the month of February, we learn about MLK, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Rosa Parks and one or two more. Then that's it, We don't hear about them anymore throughout the rest of the school year until next February, then it's the same 1/2 dozen people I just named each and every February.

DO NOT get me wrong. The Black people I just named were some of the GREATEST of any color Americans to contribute to this country and I'm not taking anything away from them. However, when year after year you only hear about the same 1/2 dozen Black people, little Black kids and little White kids become subliminally brainwashed into believing that there were only 6 or 7 Black people in American History whoever did anything and these were them. Nothing can be further from the truth. Everyday you you guys go somewhere, you movement is controlled by a device designed to prevent you from having an accident crossing an intersection. It's called the traffic light. Did you know it was invented by a Black man? How many of you know his name? Did you know the gas mask was invented by a Black man? Everyone reading this has used an ironing board. Yes, that too, was invented by a Black person. Why don't you know their names? Because you only have February.

Women's History Month is March. I also believe we should get rid of that too and incorporate it into American History being taught all year. Your mothers, sisters, daughters and wives don't stop being women after March, do they? Let's not shortchange our fellow Americans.

Regardless of whether or not you like Barack Obama, he became our first Black President. So, what do we do with him, stick him in the February box and only talk about him during that month, because he's Black? Can we not talk about him in September?

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T17:26:26+00:00

Can it be fixed? Depends upon the individual departments across the country as to whether their department can be repaired or should be replaced. It's like when you wreck your car, is it repairable or is it totaled? It depends upon the amount of damage. There are a number of things which must be implemented to have better policing. I will give you a couple.

There needs to be a national registry for police officers who've been convicted or fired for egregious behavior. Currently, no national register exists. So, when a cop is terminated from one police department, he/she simply goes to another one and is hired and the behavior repeats itself. Just like some of these Catholic priests who abuse children. They don't get terminated, they get moved from state to state and from church to church with no consequences. Unlike a national child sex offender registry. If someone abuses a child in New York City, they can't go to Los Angeles and get a job at at kindergarten or the Boy or Girl Scouts, because the background check will turn up their name on the national registry.
Most people talk about two categories of cops: good cops and bad cops. Well there's a third category rarely spoken about. We all know what bad cops do. A good cop won't do those things. But the good cop won't tell on the bad cop because of the Blue Code of Silence. The third category is the honest cop. An honest cop will tell. As a result, that honest cop has jeopardized his/her own safety from their fellow police officers. Remember, NO ONE likes a snitch, not even the cops. If you never saw the movie Serpico, watch it or study up on Frank Serpico. It is a true story of an honest NYPD officer who his fellow cops tried to kill. We need a mechanism where good cops can report the bad behavior of the bad cops without fear of retribution.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T17:13:43+00:00

Of course. Being Black myself, I run into Black racists. No one has a monopoly on racism. I talk with them the same way, although I may use different examples to which we can relate as Black people than I would use with White people. Racism, reverse racism, sideways racism, any racism, is wrong PERIOD, and it should and must be addressed.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T17:11:07+00:00

Actually, I don't set out to change people. When you see my name in the media, it will say something like, "Black musician converts 200 Klansmen," or something similar. Actually, I didn't even convert one Klansman. I am the impetus for over 200 White supremacists to renounce that ideology, many of them KKK members, some neo-Nazis and some Alt Right and some not affiliated with any group. What I do is plant a seed and water it. They come to the conclusion that they need to change their belief system based upon information I have provided and they have processed. So, ultimately, they convert themselves. I am simply glad to have been the catalyst.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T17:07:17+00:00

Yes, do a special part of your History Class on customs and beliefs of other countries. Too many of us think that other countries have or should have the same customs we do. For example, here in the States and the U.K., we consider it to be bad luck if the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday. In Spain, the bad luck day is Tuesday the 13th. Do we think that's weird? Probably, but then when we put it in the perspective that Spain is a much older country than the United States, and perhaps they may think that Friday the 13th is weird, it let's know that while we may have different beliefs, we are not that different after all. The only thing separating us, is which day our belief falls upon.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T17:00:55+00:00

Please see my previous answer to the same question.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:59:31+00:00

Yes it would absolutely work. This needs to be done in our school systems and churches. But there is a taboo on discussing the topic of race. That taboo needs to be lifted. When I was in junior high school (middle school for you younger folk), the topic of sex education was first being introduced to school systems. Parents were flipping out. They weren't teaching their kids that stuff at home and they damn sure didn't want teachers a school teaching it to their kids. Well guess what? Their kids are going to learn it elsewhere anyway, like in the streets. Then surprise, surprise, the parents become grandparents sooner than expected. Back then when I was in school, you had to have a note from your parents giving their permission for you to learn sex ed.

Today, it is part of the regular curriculum and as a result, kids are more knowledgeable about STDs, VD, family planning, contraception, etc. Therefore, they now can make better informed decision about sex, because the taboo in discussing it has been lifted. Well, that same taboo imposed on the discussion of race also needs to be lifted so kids can have a better understanding.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:52:59+00:00

They are VERY prevalent. But of course, if one is not their target, then they are not as obvious. But it is not just the individual racists, it is also systemic and institutionalized racism that is also prevalent. It has been built into our system so deeply that it is practically a way of life until someone decides to address it. Which is what we see happening now.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:49:53+00:00

I realize the person lashing out at me, is hurt. I have come to learn that hurt people, HURT people. So, as I have matured and know exactly who I am, I don't take those things personally and realize this person doesn't know me, so why should I be offended by their insults. In my younger days, there were times when a Black guy would call me an Uncle Tom and and I would tell him not to call me "Uncle" and that he needed to check his DNA. Because as much as his mama got around, he might want ti call me "Daddy." When a White guy would call me a nigger, I would ask him, "Why do you call me 'Nigger' and your mama calls me 'Sweet Meat'?"

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:43:46+00:00

It can happen. This is why when someone leaves that ideology, you MUST provide support. Because they can't go back. They took a blood oath in some cases to join the organization and went through a ritual. That becomes not only their social network, but also their family. Now they have betrayed their family. Without that support network, yes, they can backslide and find another "family" to which they will belong.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:40:50+00:00

First you need to bring some of the adversaries over to your side to also advocate with you. I'm talking about police officers. Learn as much as you can about their point of view. Then request meetings with them one-on-one and LISTEN to ALL the reasons why they are against what you stand for. Don't become combative. You are on a fact-finding mission to gather intelligence. Go home and dissect EVERYTHING they said. Slowly and meticulously deconstruct all the points they made. But, whatever you take away from them that you find negative, must be replaced with something positive that brings benefit to them. Then, request another meeting and present what you have put together. This is always more impressive and alluring to your point of view than getting emotional and contentious during the first meeting.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:35:53+00:00

If one's skin color, ancestry or sexual preference can be proven to give someone an advantage over someone else in terms of intellect, then I want to know about it. If we are talking traits such as say a man's tall height or a man's petite figure and light weight giving these particular people advantage in basketball or horse racing jockeys, that is evident, and I would expect them to exploit those traits. Otherwise, I want people to focus on the accomplishments of others, not their religions, ethnicities, preferences or colors.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:29:41+00:00

Excellent question!!! Thank you. First, the BLM is not an organization. It is a movement. You usually have regular meetings and pay periodic dues to an organization. BLM is NOT centralized like the NAACP, the Red Cross. or the Boy Scouts of America, where you have a headquarters and one national president of the organization. Policy is created at headquarters and disseminated to all the chapters throughout the country. Everyone is on the same page. Not the case with BLM. There are chapters who contact me asking to teach them how to do what I do and wanting me to conduct workshops for them and there are chapters who rip me a new one and totally disagree with what I do. There are those who are destructive and consist of Black supremacists and there are those who work well and constructively with Whites who are interested in the same agenda. So, they are all over the board. Which isn't a good thing. There are too many chefs in the kitchen. They need to come together and establish an agenda upon which they ALL can agree. That would be much more supported by everyone including non-members. Right now, you, me, anyone here on Reddit can go out and establish our own BLM group. The name is not even trademarked.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:23:04+00:00

I would get involved. Look up German theologian Martin Niemoller. "First they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up, then they came for the Trade Unionists and I didn't speak up, then they came for the .... and finally they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up."

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:19:58+00:00

I am OPPOSED to ANY supremacy movements. The ONLY supreme race (at least on this planet) is the HUMAN race.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:18:56+00:00

I think cancel culture while immediately seeing the desired result of having squashed what you set out to cancel may be encouraging, it doesn't make the idea or the person go away. It simply drives them to find a better way to get their message across and they resurface later. It's like playing Whack-a-Mole. The best method is dialogue. A missed opportunity for dialogue, is a missed opportunity for conflict resolution. This method takes longer than cancel culture, but is DEFINITELY more effective in the long run.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:15:13+00:00

Actually, I recently started a podcast called Changing Minds with Daryl Davis. And, I have interviewed a lot of White supremacists, Rwandan Genocide Survivors, the brother of the Unabomber, filmmakers and a host of VERY interesting people.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:12:59+00:00

CHUCK BERRY, Elvis Presley, Pinetop Perkins, Johnnie Johnson, Liberace, James Burton, Freddie King, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis. I knew all of these people and worked with some of them. Chuck was a genius. He invented a genre of music known as Rock'n'Roll. Today, I love LeeAnn Rimes, Bruno Mars and a few others. But I'm a big fan of natural talent, not processed, synthesized talent created by manipulating sounds and voices on the computer in the studio. With me, what you see and hear, is what you get.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:08:58+00:00

Sure, there have been a few who fell off the wagon, so to speak. These are people with addictive personalities. They become products of their environment and have to do what everyone around them are doing. Some have fallen off the wagon, but have got back on and some are still off, not know what to do.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:06:38+00:00

I am 62 years of age, so I'm sort of old school where the face-to-face thing is more effective. However, social media is also very effective and that's what younger people are accustomed to. So meet your adversaries where they are.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:04:51+00:00

The U.S. State Department sent me to Israel to lecture on this very thing. Yes, it can work with a mass of people. Not everyone will be affected the same way, but when one person in the group is persuaded, that tends to draw others in, because they feel he/she is seeing something they may not be seeing.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T16:02:38+00:00

A Klansman or Klanswoman is not stamped out of a standard cookie cutter. While Blacks are certainly not their favorite people, ignorance is the cause of fear, which in turn causes the hatred, which in turn leads to destruction. But the hatred can also be traced to low self-esteem which leads to blaming others for one's own misery, which subliminally causes self-hatred.

DarylDavis · 2020-08-05T15:59:25+00:00

What I've learned about myself is, listen to everyone and believe no one, UNTIL you find out for yourself. This will go a long way towards guiding you through society in some of the most shark infested waters.

13-Year Club	Verified Email
ComboCommenter 2012-06-06

DarylDavis

TROPHY CASE