These players need to learn to listen to OTHERS.

I have one question for both of you. In 10 words or less, what is your specific end game/goal/want?

Oak, I can sum up my endgame on just about every issue with one word...

TRUTH

Let's talk about the truth.

A lot of people in this country grew up on the same street, listening to the same people, tell the same stories and are none the wiser that those were just stories. Some of those stories were about bad white men, some were about bad black men... Today they fight in the streets for their version of the truth.

I get your point 100% Danno but presenting fact doesn't just change belief. People tend to cling to beliefs and it takes more than one pass with facts to open our eyes does it?

It will take generations to change beliefs. The best way is to present the truth over and over again, and to challenge lies over and over again.

How do we teach men the value of listening over being heard?

I have not disagreed with anything that you or Danno have said and fully understand your points.

My abilities afford me the opportunity to sit in meetings with PHD Chemists, corporate executives and career engineers. My role is to listen, process and later provide feedback. My first observation is that I am the only one listening and I am not a decision maker.

I have one question for both of you. In 10 words or less, what is your specific end game/goal/want?

Without having a personal relationship with any of these men who are ranting about systemic racism, I can't teach them anything. I can only put the facts out there, hope someone reads it, and thinks about it long enough to figure things out.

It is up to each person to inform themselves. We can put the information out there - information that is readily available anywhere, to anyone who wants to know the truth - but we can't listen for them. These are guys who grew up with people telling them one thing, which happens to be founded on complete lies. And this is where that mentorship thing that you and I discussed the other day comes in. These guys need someone in their life that they trust to knock some sense into them.

In the meantime, I'm not going to stand for the preposterous accusation that WE are not listening. We've listened long enough. White conservatives have allowed themselves to be talked down into feeling guilty for something they have nothing to do with, for far too long. I'm not going to play that game. This isn't the time for playing nice with people who are filled with hate. I'm not talking about black people, as a whole. I'm talking about liberals of any color.

There are black people who want to be left alone, who are having their homes and businesses destroyed by both black and white people who presume to speak for ALL black people. Those are the people I feel for. They need our prayers and any help we can provide.

What is my end game? Getting people to look in the mirror.

You speak so well that I understood all of that the first time you said it. I replied "I have not disagreed with anything that you or Danno have said and fully understand your points."

If you want to draw a hard line with people that obviously struggle with articulation, then do so.

You aren't listening to them, you didn't listen to me the first time that i said I understood you, and I expect another 4-6 paragraphs waiting for me in the morning saying the same thing but worded differently.

The only thing I ever asked was for us to not let what is going on outside cause destruction inside. You want to argue and be caustic... go at it. I wont get in your angry way.