The work that Valdary is doing is essential to getting people to understand compassionately that being anti-racist isn’t about being anti white, it’s about fighting for what’s right. You can see how easily people get tripped up on their prejudices.

Shey begins by talking about how she’s been greatly influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy, especially his conclusion that love is more powerful than hatred. When we are angry with someone, our thoughts become negative. When we think in a negative way, it’s difficult to motivate ourselves and change ourselves. But when we experience compassion, we are able to work through our issues constructively. In fact, people have a natural inclination towards compassion—that’s why empathy training works. By being compassionate towards people who don’t share your views, you can help them expand their minds to see different points of view. And once they expand their minds, they can begin working on themselves and change for the better. After all, people aren’t born bigots—they learn bigotry as they grow up.

P.S. I think a tweet written by the Head of my daughter's school as I wrote this post is relevant to this discussion. She states "What if the most important thing teachers are teaching right now is how to give unconditional love? Not love or praise in exchange for high perfomance or compliance. Love just because. Love because school should be a life-affirming, deeply humanizing place for students."