It was the late 1990s and I was on a trip to China with my then-business partner, Joe. I can't remember why, but I was ranting against gays. You see, I am tricultural—black, Caribbean, and Latino—and each of these subcultures harbors unfortunate but strong homophobic streaks.
"Can you change your race?" Joe asked me.
"No," I answered. "Nor would I want to do so."
"A gay person could live an easy, nonconfrontational life by denying who they are," Joe said to me.
As simple as that exchange was, it was like a bright light bulb turned on inside my head. Though my heart wasn’t cured in that moment, my brain was re-educated and rewired. Eventually, I had a change of heart, too: having no negative gut reaction in the presence of my gay brothers and sisters came more slowly, but it came. I went from a homophobe to a huge gay rights supporter, part of my atonement.
Culture and how one was reared is not easy to overcome. Even when one makes the intellectual transition, "muscle memory" often continues to lurk. It takes a lot of work to permanently change that muscle memory.
Many disparage those who engage Trump supporters. They say Trumpists are racist. The narrative is that we should stop wasting our time trying to convert them and spend more time reaching "our voters." After all, post-2016 election research suggests that racism was a bigger factor than economic angst.
Those concepts are not mutually exclusive. A middle-class voter in dire financial straits is more susceptible to easy answers, because it takes more in-depth work to understand that the culprit is an economic system that continues to extract with impunity. You cannot have an economy growing at an overall rate of 2 to 4 percent, while the top 10 percent’s wealth continues to grow at a rate of between 5 to 7 percent. That means the rest of us are left with a shrinking economy, which is clearly reflected in our nation’s income and wealth disparity.
The plutocracy fights to keep our collective eye off of the ball. They plant seeds that dissect and pit Americans against each other to ensure we fight among themselves instead of revolting against failed economic system that’s run by a few, for the benefit of a few. This is not new. It was true from the inception of this nation.
So when one preaches that race is but a social construct, it is necessary to engage everyone, Trumpists or not.
I have pleasant discussions with Trumpists virtually every day. Some are racists, some less so, and others are students. The thing is I do a lot more listening than talking, teaching, and preaching. We reach a comfort level in the conversation so that inhibitions begin to fall, and one can begin speaking to the person and not the ideology.
I recently engaged with a young pastor who told me that our conversations meant a lot to him and it had him rethinking Medicare for all, as well as other issues he had opposed. An airline pilot told me that he would begin doing more research on the topics we discussed, from Medicare for all to wealth disparity. His partiallly Ayn Randian-stance faded as we spoke. A small businessman started to rethink immigration and volunteered to write a paper for my blog on an immigration solution that would legalize most undocumented immigrants, but also bring many more into the country. A few others are now regular listeners/watchers of my Politics Done Right radio program. None of them have admitted to becoming progressives, but many admit that they agree with many progressive policies as explained.
It takes a lot of work and time, often one-on-one, to change minds or at least to have many on the right consider some progressive policies. If we are to have real policy change in this country, just winning the election with 50 percent of the vote +1 isn't enough. It will take everyone’s hard work. It is essential that we engage with everybody, whether they are liberal, progressive, conservative, right-wing, or tea party.
Progressives should not cast too many stones at Trumpists. As a black Latino Caribbean man who attends many progressive conferences, I have seen that progressives’ behavior, while often more high-minded, leaves a lot to be desired. Many people of color are disregarded in these spaces, as well. While I am not a fan of safe spaces at all, the fact that even at Netroots Nation, the preeminent progressive political conference, people talk about safe spaces for people of color should add some humility to our stances and false indignation.
I wrote about one of these experiences in a piece titled “Reaction by some Liberals at Netroots Nation to Black Lives Matter disappointing” that details how white progressives can forget what the fight for racial and criminal justice looks like. And of course, this does not include other dynamics including American Latinos, foreign-born Latinos, black Americans, and foreign-born black people, which add yet another dimension.
Contrary to popular belief, a large percentage of Trumpists and right-wingers are reachable. It is all about engaging them and getting down to their level. Some progressives are unwilling to do that work, and that is fine. However, discouraging and disparaging this type of engagement because of misinterpreted research means a huge opportunity missed—especially right now.