For nearly 40 years, Daryl Davis has engaged leaders of the KKK face-to-face to find the answer to a question, “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” Davis shared his powerful experiences of how respectful conversations have led to genuine friendships with many who disavowed hateful beliefs during “Diversity Lessons from a Black Klan Whisperer” during a special Black History Month event to nearly 500 campus and community members (in-person and virtually) at UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday, Feb. 15. [View Photos]
“We spend too much time talking about the other person, talking at the other person, and talking past the other person. Amazing things can happen when we spend some time talking with the other person.” Bottom line is the more we talk, the more we understand each other and discover what we have in common.
Davis, a musician who toured with Chuck Berry for three decades, has been featured on CNN and his TEDx Talk has more than 12 million views. His visit to campus included a classroom discussion in POLI 180 – Introduction to Global Affairs with Professor Jennifer Collins, a lunch conversation with Sentry School students and faculty, a meet and greet session, and a private dinner with student leaders and staff from various diversity groups on campus.
Davis’s visit was made possible thanks to a grant to Sentry School of Business and Economics and UWSP Diversity and College Access from the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.