And they want the same things for their family, as we want for our families. People want to be respected, they want to be heard, they want to be treated fairly and truthfully. And as such, everybody wants to be loved. How do you have similarly productive conversations online, where you can’t be physically present?ĭavis: No matter how different people may be, I always conclude that we all are human beings. Can people be ‘converted’ out of racism?ĭN: You have a lot of stories about sitting down with white supremacists, and it seems like your physical presence plays a pretty important part in that interaction.In the process, you’ll probably make a new friend. You have a lot to teach them, and you have a lot to learn from them. But what I say is: once or twice a week, walk across the cafeteria, leave your comfort group at lunch, and sit at somebody else’s table. People tend to feel more comfortable around familiarity. They self-segregate.ĭoes that mean that they are racist? No, not necessarily. Blacks sit with blacks, Hispanics sit with Hispanics, and Asians sit with Asians. What happens at 12? Everyone goes downstairs to the cafeteria. In colleges or the workplace, different people work together, they might even share the same cubicle. I just view it as another culture, and I treat it like I would treat any other.ĭN: For people who can’t get out and travel to six continents, how do you suggest making up for that?ĭavis: You can still travel, I call it walking across the cafeteria. So, seeing these different cultures, and learning how to interact with them has given me the ability to sit down with a culture such as white supremacy. All of that has helped shape who I’d become, because I started early in my life, as you pointed out, when I traveled abroad with my parents, and now I’m doing it again, as an adult performer and lecturer. I’ve been to 61 countries on six continents and been exposed to a multitude of different cultures, religions, colors of skin, ethnicities, and ideologies. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”Īnd that is so true. If I would have been raised in my own country my whole life, would I be doing this with white supremacists? Maybe not.ĭN: You grew up overseas, toured as a musician extensively and lived abroad-how have your travels informed your approach toward the conversations you’re known for?ĭavis: My favorite quote of all time is by Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. I was very fortunate to travel and be impacted by that. So that’s why I do this.īut what I think what I believe played a bigger role was my upbringing. When I step off the stage at the end of the day, and I’m out in society, I want harmony around me too. People do what I want them to do, because that’s what I pay them to do.Īs a bandleader, my job on my bandstand is to foster harmony between the voices on that stage. How I feel about myself is this-when I’m in my band, I am the bandleader. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.ĭeseret News: Do you think the conversations you’re having now would have been possible without your background as a musician, and the connections you’ve made through music?ĭaryl Davis: Music definitely plays a big role. All we care about-can we make good music together?” The musicians on stage, ranging from 14 to 17 years old, had the honor of playing “Johnny B Goode” with Davis, who spent decades of his career performing the famous tune with Chuck Berry himself.ĭeseret News was able to speak with Davis before the event. The 64-year-old Chicago native told the high school students and family members in the audience, “Musicians don’t care about your skin color, your religion, or who your daddy is. He represents the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, “a nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity.” Monday, in a little theatre in American Fork, UT, Davis spent the evening with a group of young musicians, playing his favorite tunes and speaking on the necessity of dialogue to combat ignorance and hate. Offstage, Davis can be found at Ku Klux Klan rallies and white supremacy hangouts, where he attempts to answer the question “How can someone hate me, if they don’t even know me?” Davis has conducted countless interviews with members of radical organizations and has been gifted hundreds of robes from KKK members that have renounced their racist ideologies. On stage, he is an accomplished musician who has spent his career playing with legends like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, and Percy Sledge.
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