Thanks for the interesting reflections that are coming in. I appreciate the heartfelt engagement.

As I reflect on yesterday, I thought I would share an article from one of the “conservative thinkers” I mentioned. Here it is<https://quillette.com/2020/06/11/racist-police-violence-reconsidered/>.

As those who were at the meeting yesterday will know, there is a back story to this comment that was shared at the end of the meeting.

If you are interested, scroll down. Or perhaps read the article first and then scroll down 😊.

Best,
Gregg






























PS. As was discussed at the meeting, I referred to the author of this piece as one of a number of “conservative black thinkers”. The way I framed it, it was experienced as potentially jarring in that it seemed that I was unnecessarily pigeon-holing these people by their race. I was grateful to hear that reaction, as it opened me up to a perspective and reaction that I was otherwise blind to.

Given our CALM context, I then had the chance to share that, for me, because they were making arguments against the current tide of progressive anti-racist ideologies, I felt the need to note they were black because it both seemed relevant and felt different to me as I heard their arguments. Indeed, I must confess that when I read an article by conservatives on race-related issues, it feels different to me if they are black as opposed to white. To “hear” this point made, here is Sam Harris<https://samharris.org/podcasts/207-can-pull-back-brink/>, who is white and is making a similar argument as John McWhorter does in the linked article above. He is very explicit how delicate the issues are; and I would imagine (but don’t know because I don’t follow social media) that he was criticized for this podcast. This was a process that opened up a number of interesting elements that I think speak to these times. I believe that we did the best that can be done, which is stay connected, stay engaged, get curious and work together to create common ground toward dignity and well-being with integrity.

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