About

This episode is really about "opening the conversation". This was recorded 1 week after the death of George Floyd, a massive week for the world and particularly people of colour, so at times it was a difficult conversation, but one that needed to be had. And this really is about opening the conversation. Talking to your relatives, friends and immediate family can be challenging and scary when talking about racism and systemic racism. That even if no one was racist, people of colour are still at a disadvantage. When we’re speaking to our folks, it’s important to be mindful of how we go about the conversations. If we want to teach people about this, we need to act as teachers. This requires understanding, patience, vigilance. There are 2 types of people; those who are uninformed and those who are bigoted. Bigoted just means that they’re unreasonably attached to a particular belief or belief system and are essentially intolerant to other people’s beliefs. The discussion is never easy, but doable. We can’t just wait around for the boomers to die out. We need them, and with the right strategy, respect, patience, we can teach them. Let’s start with the uninformed folks, all you need to do is inform them BUT be careful with language and tone. Please don’t say “Educate yourself” it’s not the right way of doing it, instead say “here are some materials you can read and watch” and leave it at that. For those who are bigoted, this is a little more challenging. It comes down to a lack of empathy. You must understand the mindset. When someone isn’t affected by a problem, they can have trouble understanding why anyone would care about it. They struggle imaging being hurt, or putting themselves in another perspective or another person’s shoes. So we need to talk to them about these concepts in ways they can understand, and framing the ideas with language they resonate with. Instead of saying things like “white privilege” or “black lives matter” use phrases like “Your life has been hard, but the colour of your skin didn’t make it harder” or “everyone’s life must be protected, but right now black people are in danger and they need our help”. It may be uncomfortable to let go of words you identify with often. Never tell them they’re wrong, but say things like “that’s what they mean when they use the word privilege” instead of “that’s privilege”.Conversations don’t have to be 60 minute conversations like this, but it’s just a matter of opening the conversation. Believe in people; that we can all grow and learn and adapt. @allira.potter@mindbody_plants