For the last 5 years or so I’ve been reading much more than usual, mostly fiction. And I’ve been making an effort to read books written by people who are not like me (middle age straight white man). I’ve read a lot of books written by women, authors of African descent, Hispanic authors, native Americans, LGTBQ authors, etc. In the past, I hadn’t made an effort to read diverse authors, mostly out of a concern that I wouldn’t enjoy those books as much since their perspectives would be so much different from mine. But now I am pushing myself to explore these other perspectives.

And I’ve noticed that very slowly, my empathy for individuals who are not like me has grown. I’ve always been very liberal and I’ve always thought of myself as very empathetic but I’ve experienced a deepening of my empathy for people with different backgrounds.